Horizon Europe Workshop: Supporting National Contact Points in Albania

On July 15th, 2024, the EU4Innovation (EU4I) project in Tirana hosted a Capacity-Building Workshop aimed at supporting the capabilities of newly elected National Contact Points (NCPs) in Albania. Organised by the EU4I project in collaboration with the National Agency for Scientific Research and Innovation (NASRI), the workshop served as a valuable platform for Horizon Europe (HE) NCPs to learn about minimum standards and guiding principles of NCPs under HE and NCP network success cases from EU countries.

Throughout the two-hour workshop, participants engaged in insightful sessions focused on sharing best practices and lessons learned. The aim was to equip newly appointed NCPs with the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively guide and assist HE applicants and beneficiaries.

The workshop began with opening remarks delivered by Mr. Michael Oos, Project Manager at EU4Innovation, and followed by Ms. Elona Xhaferri, Advisor on Horizon Europe at EU4Innovation, who explained how EU4Innovation will contribute to capacity building of NCPs and the way forward.

Key sessions included detailed discussions on the responsibilities of Albanian NCPs in supporting HE potential and interested beneficiaries, led by Robert Dumi, Director of International Programmes at NASRI, and Franceska Korançe, National Expert for HE at EU4I. These were complemented by a presentation from Klodiana Gorica, NCP for the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), who shared her experiences and best practices from the Albanian context.

NCPs discussed their roles and responsibilities and how they can assist public and private institutions in applying to HE open calls, steering partnerships locally and internationally in building consortia, and delivering up to their full potential, considering the challenges and limited resources they have.

The workshop concluded with concrete recommendations to enhance NCPs competencies, providing a clear roadmap for boosting Albania’s performance in EU R&I programmes. The recommendations from NCPs were mainly focused on:

• NCPs are to be supported in engaging in network opportunities to learn from their experienced counterparts and participate in EU-funded training and projects for building the capacities of NCPs.
• Support NCPs in organising regular meetings with potential beneficiaries and various interest groups to promote open calls and establish partnerships at the European level.
• Create a national platform managed by NCPs to enhance collaboration and promote HE calls.
• Provide information and capacity-building support for NCPs and university project offices, focusing on proposal writing, financial management, and reporting while targeting specific calls and partnership building.
• Improve the legislative framework to support the role and competencies of NCPs in Albania and provide financial incentives to them considering their motivation and challenges with an increased workload for simultaneously implementing multiple duties.
• Support NCPs in conducting stakeholder mapping in partnership with NASRI and EU4I to build a network of potential partners and beneficiaries at national, regional, and international levels.