Regional conference “Mobility and Emigration of Experts: personal and social gains and losses”. This conference took plce in the framework of a reg

In the framework of this regional initiative EMA has prepared three products:

 1. National Report “Developing Brain Gain Policies in the Western Balkans: Albania”, (July 2010), which analyses how much brain drain as an issue hampering the democratisation and development has affected Albania in the last two decades. Furthermore, it presents the main initiatives and policies undertaken since 2000 in order to turn brain drain into brain gain. Besides providing statistical data on the issue, this report also identifies relevant stakeholders in the field and analyses their work and impact of policies so far. By identifying pitfalls and challenges in the measures implemented so far, EMA draws some conclusions and recommendations on how to improve the policies in the future.

2. Policy Paper “Brain Gain policies and their Impact on the European Integration process of Albania” (June 2010), analyses the policies of brain gain that the Albanian government has undertaken in the recent years and their impact on the integration processes that our country is undergoing. The phenomenon of brain drain and consequently the need to reverse it, has become even more prominent as the push for the free travel due to visa liberalization has gained momentum, and the need for qualified staff who can contribute positively to the reforms undertaken has increased drastically. The policy paper pointed out that the migratory trend that plagued Albania for years, hindering its further cultural development and cultivation of intellectual environments, has been decreasing after the year 2000. This policy paper was presented during a conference that EMA organized on 4th of June 2010 with the distinguished participation of Mrs. Nora Malaj, Deputy Minister of Education and Sciences.

3. Policy Paper “Which role for Albanian Universities in brain circulation?” (October 2010), strives to assess the situation of brain circulation in a country heavily affected by brain drain in the last twenty years, putting on focus the role of Albanian public and private universities, headquarters of research and innovation in the country. It reviews the theoretical features of the brain circulation phenomena as well as the proposed EU policies in this field, whose beneficiaries involve also Albanian researchers and institutions. While the authors acknowledge the situation of Albania as a small developing country with modest research and innovation infrastructure, they suggest that rather than brain gain, the target of policies should be brain circulation. However, despite Albanian institutions being involved in different programmes, success in brain circulation and hence, its positive impact on the development of the country might remain limited by a combination of factors: 1) yet low number of persons benefiting from these programmes, 2) failure to address the gap between modest infrastructure and management capacities of national research institutions and the top-level preparation that researchers receive abroad, 3) underestimation of the need to involve internationals in the country’s research and innovation environment, resulting in few or no measures to attract them, and 4) missed link between results in academic research and progress in different sectors of the economy/industry of the country.