Monday, April 10, 2017

The second national course of the Albanian School of Political Studies on the topic "Leadership development and political representation", was held on 7-9 April 2017 in Gjirokastra. Thanks to the best expertise as well as open discussions, participants of the program had the opportunity to deepen their knowledge and be trained on important aspects of their careers.
The first module of the course was designed as a comprehensive leadership exercise with the aim of developing new conceptual foundations on effective democratic leadership and change. Mrs. Ina Gjikondi, director of training center of George Washington University in USA and Mrs. Eldisa Zhebo, director of the Institute for Change and Leadership, developed a series of modern theoretical techniques and practical exercises, in which participants worked to improve their leadership skills with the objective of strengthening the capacities of the individual and the team. The module methodology was based on George Washington University's training certification.

The leadership topic was further addressed in the second part of this module in a session titled "The people and management systems to run a great organization", delivered by Mr. Indrit Puteci, director of "Value the Person Albania" and an alumni of the School. The presented techniques for creating systems and managing procedures for people and business, were well received by the participants and increased their overall interest in the session.

The second module of the course was conducted as an open discussion with Mr. Ermal Hasimja, researcher and lecturer at the University of New York in Tirana, on the topic of "Logical fallacies in political discourse". Through practical examples of Albanian and international politics,  Mr. Hasimja presented a critical approach to the classic model of political representation in modern democracies.

The course was an additional opportunity for the participants to visit the touristic town of Gjirokastra, part of the UNESCO world heritage list.