On 15 July 2024, EU4Innovation organized a Capacity-Building Workshop for National Contact Points (NCPs) with the National Agency on Science, 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. The workshop began with opening remarks from 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.
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 two presenters Ms. Franceska Korançe, Local Expert on behalf of EU4Innovation and Mr. Robert Dumi, Director at NASRI, shared best practices of NCPS, open calls dedicated to the NCPs, a repository of resources for them and addressed an array of questions related to NCPs expected role and duties.
The workshop included a networking session, allowing participants to connect and discuss prospective cooperation with EU4Innovation and joint initiatives. The event concluded with concrete recommendations to enhance NCP competencies, providing a clear roadmap for boosting Albania’s performance in EU R&I programmes.
