Signed in Bologna on 6 April 2023, the agreement on mobility and research that will allow the Department of Agro-Food Sciences and Technologies of the University of Bologna to develop, in cooperation with the Agricultural University of Tirana, mobility activities for professors, researchers and students and research activities for the new frontiers of development of agriculture and agro-food chains in Albania and in the Adriatic-Ionian macro-region. The agreement takes place within the framework of the Italian Cooperation's (AICS Tirana) strategic programme 'vet through innovation', led by the Emilia-Romagna Region together with a consortium of educational institutions (Ifoa, Aeca and Serinar) and aimed at building an innovative training competence centre for higher agricultural education, at the Rakip Kryeziu school in Fier, and at developing the competences of the entire network of Higher Agricultural Institutes in Albania. The agreement is also in line with the many institutional and commercial relations that bind Italy and Albania, which could be strengthened in the coming years, in terms of investments in the agri-food sector, precisely by virtue of raising the skills and quality standards of agri-food production in Albania and the Balkans, also enhancing the role of Italian skills in the supply chain and the role that the Italian language could play in higher education in the Balkans. The possibility of mobility exchanges of teachers, researchers, and students will allow for training and research on advanced technologies and solutions, including digital ones, for various agri-food chains such as olive oil, fruit and vegetables, contemplating an increase in the technological level in Albanian agricultural chains and a progressive increase and control of the quality of primary productions. The agreement stems from an innovative technology transfer pathway of the 'vet through innovation' project in the olive oil supply chain that saw a delegation of entrepreneurs from Emilia-Romagna, involved through Clust-Er Agro of the High Technology Network, on a mission in November 2022 to draw up a 'guidelines' document on behalf of the Albanian Ministry of Agriculture on the enhancement of technological skills for oil production in Albania. Tullia Gallina Toschi, full professor at the Department of Agricoltural and Food Sciences (Laboratory of Chemistry, instrumental and sensory analysis of food – LACASS — Agricultural and Food Sciences (unibo.it), scientifically led the mission in November and was the promoter of the agreement between Tirana Agricultural University and Distal.
