Albania is dotted with a relevant Cultural Heritage witnessing historical and cultural identity of this Country through the Ages. Cultural identity, unrepeatable patrimony, economic value, preservation and valorisation, are keywords recognised in Europe to acknowledge cultural heritage as an extraordinary multidisciplinary subject of high-level research. From material analyses for conservation, to digital heritage, cultural heritage is the perfect subject to gather experts of interconnected competences, to develop valuable research strategies.The proposed project is aimed at enhancing research capacities of Albanian HEIs in the field of conservation and restoration of Cultural Heritage, contributing to Albania accession to EU by supporting the modernization and internationalization of HEIs. The project will proceed over two parallel lines: promoting structural measures to establish research quality standards at ministerial level and supporting research development and innovation at HEI level through the introduction of best practice of cultural heritage research projects.In order to reach this aim, the project will enhance research capacities of Albanian HEIs in the field of conservation and restoration of Cultural Heritage, providing Universities with well-performing, innovative and competitive research methodologies in the field, this resulting into a tangible improvement of key competences, hard skills and critical thinking. Modern, integrated and interdisciplinary research and teaching laboratories will be established, equipped with last generation instruments. Laboratories will also be able to deliver research results outside Academia, endowed with the capacity of integrating research outcomes into stakeholders. The establishment of new laboratories and the building of research capacities will set the basis for the development of innovative research methods, to be transferred to teaching through selected piloting actions to be carried out on Albanian Heritage

In Albania, the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoESY) is working on the national strategy for the Development of Pre-University Education that includes the implementation of a comprehensive Vocational and Educational Training (VET) System for the professional development of teachers that are in service at pre-university levels. The project aims at contributing to the comprehensive VET system for teachers by developing a lifelong learning (LLL) Teacher Training System of high quality by means of an accreditation procedure and through the establishment of specialized LLL centres in Albanian universities.Specific objectives are the following:1. Defining a strategy for a comprehensive VET system for teachers emphasasing the contribution of universities as main providers of ongoing professional development for a high quality of the teacher qualification process. This objective will be achieved by both European and Albanian partners in collaboration with MoESY. 2. Establishing new expertise and standard of teacher training in Albanian universities through organizing a training workshop for Albanian universities and training visits to European universities. This objective will be reached in each Albanian university involving the process of academic staff selection with certain expertise in training program development. 3. Establishing specialized LLL Centres for Teacher Training according to the strategy of MoESY and to the needs of in-service teachers. Each Albanian university in collaboration with European partners and MoESY will decide about training centre team that has to include academic staff selected, master teachers and representatives of regional directorate of education in order to meet all the teachers’ needs for annual qualification and professional development. The centre should have a location with a name, an address, a structure proposed, etc. Albanian partners have to visit European project partner institutions and to be trained in order to understand the process.4. Developing teacher training course programs for different levels of education in scientific methodologies, pedagogical issues, ethics and ICT use in learning according to European standards. After identifying teacher qualification needs, the training centres team have to coordinate through a Network of LLL Centres for Teacher Training in order to identify and select the teacher training programs that contribute in relevant level in the new competencies of teaching in high standard. 5. Designing and developing a new academic methodology that consist in credits application to MoESY for 16 new teacher training courses with 2 credits each and design classrooms and equipment to support the training process. 6. Creating digital structures (video projectors, interactive laboratories, smart board, laptops, etc.) in Albanian universities that support training process for teacher qualification and their lifelong learning. Academic staff and students involved to the centre will work to be creative and to discover equipment and other ICT resources that perform and illustrate new knowledge in an attractive way. 7. Developing a national information management system & database of teacher training that will be able to register teachers in training courses, to manage the assessment processes, exams, course materials delivery, etc. Human resources of Albanian universities will be engaged to design and develop the national system that manages the process of teacher registration. This objective involves government requirements within the definition of a broadher accreditation system and needs the collaboration of representatives from MoESY and other national and international stakeholders.

The wider project objective was to establish and support quality assurance processes and mechanisms to ensure effective management and enhance teaching and learning at the private higher education institutions in Albania. The Project aimed to support the private higher education institutions in Albania to achieve the priorities of the two key documents: “Increasing the impact of EU Development: an Agenda for Change” and “European Higher Education in the World”. The project addressed the national priority for Joint projects, quality assurance processes and mechanisms, under category C – improving management and operation of higher education institutions. The project comprised the following specific objectives:- To establish / support the quality assurance structures / offices at the private HE institutions in Albania;- To provide capacity building on quality assurance;- To provide trainings on designing study programs based on labour market needs.- To draft action plans supporting the processes of quality assurance and enhancement in teaching, learning and administration.- To modernize the infrastructure of Quality Assurance Offices.- Development of QA guidelines. The principles characterizing the project focused on: knowledge transfer and adaption to local needs, capacity and institutional building, sustainability and local ownership, as well as QA throughout the project.The project delivered the main following results (project documents, templates and research publications): 1. Guidelines for Research Evaluation; 2. Research Evaluation; 3. Final Report on Needs and analysis about QA; 4. Report on Quality Assurance Qualifications Frameworks and recognition with HEIs; 5. Template for QA Manual; 6. Comparative analysis of the accreditation procedures between Kosovo and Albania on implementation of the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area; 7. Challenges on implementation of e-Learning and online evaluation of teaching, learning and research in Kosovo and Albania; 8. QA Action Plans; 9. QA Manuals.

The Republic of Albania recognizes the central role of “education as a public good able to promote development” (Law no. 80/2015). The new 2015 law paved the way to an overhauling reform for improving standards in education, link HE with the labour market. Universities in Albania, with some exceptions, are at initiative stage of technological innovation needing the creation of modern ICT based structures and a trained staff. Also, no systematic information system on HE are available with phenomena of mismatch of skills in the youth market, as the current youth unemployment rate indicate. The project addresses the National priorities of enhancing university-enterprise cooperation (fostering graduates employability) and improving education quality in Albania by developing in the beneficiary Universities the graduates’ data platform, as an ICT based integrated tool for the monitoring of HE performance and its long lasting impact on society; the improving of educational supply and the matching of the demand for and supply of qualified labour. The platform will allow the collection of comprehensive data on HE system, with the information provided directly by the graduates; an evidence at disposal of policy makers on which to base decisional processes. The platform will also allow enterprises to search and compare graduates certified CVs according to specific skill giving the graduates a more democratic access to labour market and reducing skill mismatch. The project will support the Albanian universities in meeting society needs thanks to intensive knowledge, best practice transfer and reccomendation development: the activities planned will enhance university staff skills on graduates’ career development, developing professional traineeship and structured cooperation with the business world, effective tools for career guidance and students' orientation on the labour market, advanced and competitive research tools for HE monitoring and Albanian labour market analysis.

"The MARDS project addresses one of the most acute problems in Montenegrin and Albanian education systems, the doctoral studies. Its main objective is to reconstruct them in line with Salzburg Principles and establish sustainable and modern Pilot Joint Doctoral Schools between two friendly neighbors partner countries that will serve as an example of “good practice” for the WB Region. The specific objectives of the MARDS projects are:- to reconsider the existing national policies/standards for doctoral studies in two countries and their compatibility with EU practices,- to develop and propose a new model of doctoral studies in two countries, adapted to the acquired experiences over past decades and current and future countries’ needs- to propose a sustainable method of financing doctoral studies in two countries on national levels.- to establish two Joint Doctoral Schools ""Natural sciences and Technology for Sustainable Development"" with place in Montenegro (Podgorica) and “Economy and Tourism for Sustainable Development” with place in Albania (Shkoder) as the recommendable examples of cross-border PhD programmes.- to establish a sustainable cooperation with EU partners and established Doctoral School in order to maintain developed standards. The benefits of MARED on local/nationa/regionall levels are obvious:- improving PhD studies and therefore overall performances of countries and universities;- showing readiness of the candidate governments to change their education systems including doctoral studies;- enabling PhD students to work in better conditions;- promoting and supporting research mobility;- promoting and supporting intersectoral cooperation;- promoting and supporting collaboration with other EU HEIs;- moving from teaching to research;- establishing research in attractive fields, as sustainable development;- promoting cooperation between academic and non-academic sector...etc..EU will show its readiness to support WB's integration."