Supporting the Albanian Water Sector on the Way to the European Union

Albania has obtained the candidate status for EU accession in 2014 and the beginning of the negotiations for a full membership is in discussion for 2019. In order to achieve a full membership status, one of requirements is the implementation of EU policies in water sector. From former collaborations between University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Albanian Universities and Albanian stakeholders in water sector, a strong need is identified regarding to the staff knowledge in the water sector in Albania, including high education (e.g. universities), post graduate (long-life learning) and even the operational staff in (waste-) water utilities. This collaboration will support the role of public universities to enable an integrated and wide-ranging knowledge transfer for water specialists in Albania, addressing the challenges mentioned above. The objective of the project is bringing together the experiences of both partner institutions regarding water resources management and knowledge transfer in water sector. A special focus will be laid on relevant EU standards and the need for their implementation in Albanian water sector and the possibilities of involving these topics in the training and education system in Albania, in accordance with the existing system and the challenges coming from the intention of Albania to achieve the EU membership. First step will be the assessment of education profiles for the targeted groups: university students, post-graduates and operational staff, as well as identification of gaps for addressing their specific challenges in the job market. This will be focused first at the experience of AUT, but education and training profiles from other universities and institutions involved in education and training for water specialists in Albania will be also included in this process. The future perspective will be a joint master degree in water management including the three main public universities, as active education institutions in water related topics.