Growing up in Italy during the 1970s and 1980s, I remember Albania being geographically very close, just 150 kilometres across the sea from the harbour city of Brindisi. At the same time, closed and isolated by its communist regime, it seemed very far away. Many fleeing Albanians used small boats for the dangerous crossing to Italian shores. Then the Berlin Wall fell bringing with it the Albanian regime and, after the government was put under considerable pressure by students and workers, the first multiparty election took place in 1991. Last November, carrying these memories with me, I made my first trip to Albania’s capital, Tirana, to work with the PERFORM - Performing and Responsive Social Sciences project and meet Abi Dodbiba, who leads the project team in Albania. Albania is one of seven countries preparing to join the European Union (EU) after 2020. The process of EU accession requires many policy and regulatory reforms (so-called ‘Chapters’) and I was curious to discuss the transition with Abi, and looking to understand how the country’s research sector is preparing for it. |
