U niversiteti B u jq eso r I T ira nes (U BT) Albania-Hawaii Higher Education and Economic Development Project U niversiteti B u jq eso r I T ira nes (U BT) Albania-Hawaii Higher Education and Economic Development Project Country: Albania Capitol: Tirana Population: 3,639,453 Government: Emerging democracy (Multiparty Democracy) Economy: Transitioning to a modern open- market economy AUT Related Outcomes •Enhanced Interconnectivity •MOU with AACP •Contact info: Catherine Chan- Halbrendt , email: [email protected] http://www.manoa.hawai i.edu/ctahr/aheed/ Progress Highlights 1.Masters degree program evaluation & development 2.Conducted grant writing and prioritization setting workshops 3.Developed improved standards and departmental guidelines for relevant graduate research 4.Planned annual conference to showcase research work. 5.Planned research presentation in international conferences. 6.Assessed Agricultural Technology Transfer Centers (ATTC). 7.Conducted workshop on plan of work using logic framework evaluation and impact analysis. Albania-Hawaii Higher Education and Economic Development Overall Objectives 1.To strengthen the Agricultural University in Tirana/Faculty of Economy and Agribusinesses (FEA) faculty’s capacity to provide quality graduate education 2.To build capacity for effective training, consulting and advising to the Ministry of Agriculture, extension agencies, and producer associations Benefits to Global Community Enhance intercountry and cultural understanding Build better relationships for global issues resolution such as climate change Enhance international trade Thriving global agriculture Enhance Research and information exchange Project Impacts 1.Newly proposed Masters Studies Program 2.Relevance in teaching and research 3.Building AUT capacity and opportunities in grant writing and prioritization setting 4.Narrowing the gap between knowledge and skill levels in agricultural economics between Albanian and the industrial world 5.Increase knowledge of UH Goal: To permanently increase Agricultural University of Tirana’s (AUT) contribution to Albania’s economic development by bolstering the capacity of its Faculty of Economy and Agribusiness (FEA) Dr. Catherine Chan-Halbrendt 1 , PI, Dr. Engjell Skreli 2 , Co-PI, Dr. Richard Bowen 1 , Quentin W. Dombro 5 , Dr. PingSun Leung 1 , Dr. John Yanagida 1 , Dr. Carl Evensen 1 , Dr. Samir El-Swaify 1 , Dr. Ekhlass Jarjees 1 , Dr. Halina Zaleski 1 , Dr. Bahri Musabelliu 2 , Tatjana Dishnica 4 , Pauline Sullivan 3 , Ana Mane 2 , Gwendalyn Sisior 1 Collaborating Institutions 1 University of Hawaii at Manoa, CTAHR , Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, 2 Agricultural University of Tirana, 3 Florida State University, 4 Ministry of Agriculture, Albania, 5 Consultant