The WIPO Academy, in collaboration with Albania’s Ministry of Education and the General Directorate of Industrial Property (GDIP), successfully concluded a three-day National Training Program for Educators in Tirana, Albania, from September 24 to 26, 2025.
The program equipped educators with the knowledge and tools needed to integrate intellectual property (IP), innovation, and entrepreneurship into STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education. Through interactive sessions and practical exercises, participants explored how IP can support creativity and problem-solving in the classroom.
The training brought together 40 participants, teachers, teacher trainers, curriculum designers, and education policymakers with women representing 80% of the group. This diverse group of professionals worked collaboratively to strengthen the presence of innovation, IP, innovation and entrepreneurship in Albania’s STEM curricula and teaching practices.
The workshop’s online preparatory phase introduced core concepts and identified participants’ learning needs and knowledge gaps, ensuring that the in-person training that followed was practical, targeted, and responsive.
Empowering educators
The program immersed participants in interactive, practice-based activities including:
- Patent problem-solving games
- Design & branding sprint;
- Entrepreneurship pitch game;
- Facilitated session on creativity and artificial intelligence (AI); and
- Lesson plan co-design
“The training was an eye-opening experience that brought teachers, curriculum developers, and policymakers together, making it highly effective. It gave me new tools to collaborate across disciplines and to inspire innovation and creativity in my students.” -Esmeralda Bana, ICT Teacher
Each group of participants took role-specific tasks:
- Teachers began designing lesson plans for classroom use;
- Teacher-trainers explored strategies to strengthen competencies;
- Curriculum designers worked on new module outlines integrating IP and innovation into STEM education; and
- Education policymakers began developing policy notes and recommendations to support systemic integration
Building national ownership
The program also marked the launch of a national training-of-trainers pathway, with a dedicated track for experts in STEM, IP, entrepreneurship, and pedagogy. This group of national experts was trained not only in workshop content but also in facilitation techniques, preparing them to cascade the program to teachers across Albania.
Their role is pivotal: following the recent accreditation of Albania’s first IP education module for teachers, these experts will lead efforts to scale up the program nationwide. By embedding IP education into Albania’s accredited professional development pathways, the initiative moves beyond a one-off training, becoming a sustainable, long-term component of the country’s education system.
This dual approach — training both classroom educators and a national cohort of trainers — ensures immediate impact and lays the foundation for a nationwide rollout in 2026 and beyond.
Lasting impact
The Tirana training not only enhanced the professional skills of individual educators but also laid the groundwork for systemic educational change. Participants will now move into Phase 3: Certification & Coaching, where they will receive tailored support from international experts to finalize their:
- Lesson plans
- Teacher training modules
- Curricula outlines
- Policy recommendations
This phase ensures that the skills gained are transformed into concrete outputs for use in classrooms, teacher training, and policymaking processes.
By linking creativity and innovation with practical tools in IP and entrepreneurship, the program reaffirmed Albania’s commitment to fostering an innovation-ready education system. Educators and policymakers now have the tools to turn ideas into protected, market-ready solutions, preparing the next generation to contribute to national and global innovation ecosystems.
Looking ahead
As participants enter the final phase of the program:
- Teachers will finalize IP-integrated STEM lesson plans.
- National trainers will prepare training modules and support the national scale-up of the teacher certification model.
- Curriculum designers will draft formal education module outlines.
- Education policymakers will complete white papers proposing policy-level integration of IP education into national curricula.
