Think tanks play a crucial role in supporting and critically analyzing accession and reform processes in the Western Balkans. Their ideas and findings should not only be exchanged and discussed within expert communities; it is also vital that they be included in policy making and public debate. Such institutions can contribute decisively to enhancing the transparency and inclusiveness of the decision-making process.
TRAIN stands for Think Tanks Providing Research and Advice through Interaction and Networking. Since 2010, the TRAIN programme has supported think tanks in the EU candidate countries and potential candidate countries in the Western Balkans. Funded by the Stability for South Eastern Europe at the German Federal Foreign Office, the programme accompanies participants as they develop and undertake policy research and provides them with a platform for the exchange of ideas and best practices.
The opening seminar of the TRAIN 2016 Programme took place in Belgrade, where a two-day workshop was dedicated to advocacy and writing policy papers. After a research and write-up period, the participants gathered in June 2016 in Berlin, where they conducted an interim review of their policy research and focused on communication strategies. In November 2016 the group met to discuss their policy papers and receive recommendations from EU decision makers in Brussels. Communicating research findings then continued at the national level, with participants reaching out to the policy communities in their respective countries during a series of round tables and debates. As programme alumni, the participants will be able to actively contribute to the TRAIN network also in the future.
Policy Papers 2016:
- Belgrade Centre for Human Rights, Serbia
Non-Custodial Sentences – Strengthening the Capacity of the Probation Service within the Reform of the Criminal Justice System [PDF] - Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence, Serbia
Informal Parliamentary Caucuses – a Tool for Raising Legislative and Accountability Capacities? [PDF] - Centre for Monitoring and Research CeMI, Montenegro
Patient’s Rights in Montenegro: Making Health Care System Accountable [PDF] - Cooperation and Development Institute, Albania
Empowering Roma and Egyptian Communities Through Better Access to Legal Aid [PDF] - European Policy Centre, Serbia
Gender Mainstreaming of Public Policies in Serbia – A Case for (Light) Optimism [PDF] - European Policy Institute, Macedonia
The Role of the Constitutional Court in Protecting the Freedom of Expression in the Republic of Macedonia [PDF] - European Movement, Montenegro
Women in the Parliament of Montenegro [PDF] - Gender Alliance for Development Center, Albania
One Size Does Not Fit All: Electoral Systems and Gender Quota in Albania [PDF] - Institut Alternativa, Montenegro
Rhetoric or Reality? eGovernment and the Reconceptualisation of Service Delivery in Montenegro [PDF] - Macedonian Centre for European Training, Macedonia
Overcoming the Political Crisis: A Roadmap to Balanced and Free Media in Macedonia [PDF] - Open Society Foundation, Albania
Dealing with Returning Foreign Fighters [PDF] - Sarajevo Open Centre, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Same-sex Partnership – a Sleeper in BiH’s EU Integration Process [PDF]