About Us
Urban Research Institute (URI) is an independent public policy think tank that investigates the social and economic problems confronting the country along with the central and local government policies designed to solve them. URI’s mission in this undertaking is to raise awareness of the society and sharpen thinking about these problems and the impact of governmental policies, with the final purpose of improving the quality of decision-making and implementation at the central and local governmental level.
Urban Research Institute is a non-profit and non-governmental organization founded by a joint group of independent professionals and established by the Decision of the Court of Tirana on May 28, 1999. The highest forum is the Board of Trusties, represented by the Executive Director, who is elected by the Board. The organizational structure is composed of three main departments: (I) Development; (II) Research and (III) Finance and Administration.
URI’s general management philosophy is the decentralization of duties, authority and responsibility among the group of experts.
The group of experts prepares project proposals, conducts research, develops analysis and proposes solutions. In response to specific requirements of its clients and the service, URI works also with part time experts.
URI’s offices are located in the downtown area of Tirana, while contacts with institutions, local experts and coordinators are established almost all over the country. The office provides the necessary equipment for a facilitated operation.
Urban Research Institute is dedicated to transformative public policies and actions, towards the sustainable development of the country, with evidence-based, cost-efficient and bottom-up approaches, recognizing the importance of dialogue, common understanding and cooperation at all governmental and institutional levels in the country. URI’s team of senior and junior professionals of different areas share the passion for work and the integrity in carrying it out.
In support of these values, URI is committed to zero tolerance for fraud, financial mismanagement and other forms of malpractice involving employees, the executive body, the directing body, and contracted providers of goods or services, partners, funding organization, any party with which URI enters in a contractual relationship.
To ensure this, URI adopts at the internal operation level the national legal regulations: law 60, 2016 “On whistleblowing and whistle blower protection”, law 9917, 19.05.2008 “On the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing”, amended, the national list of persons declared as financers of terrorism, as updated, and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) policy, Recommendation no. 8 on non-profit organizations.
Under the same commitment, URI’s internal operations will be annually improved, as required, following the continuously improving international and national policies and measures for ensuring zero tolerance for fraud, financial mismanagement and other forms of malpractice.
- The Urban Research Institute focuses on the following main subjects of expertise:
- Environmental and Tourism;
- Governance Reform;
- Infrastructure and Public Services;
- Social Initiatives.
Public policies are more effective when they are designed evidence-based. URI develops socio-economic analysis based only on official data from state institutions or, otherwise, data collected from field surveys conducted from URI.
Urban Research Institute does not take partial positions on socio-economic issues; the group of experts consists of independent professionals who share views and recommendations deriving from research work.
URI’s research work inspires integrity, intellectual honesty and respect among the institutions and organizations with which it cooperates, fostering innovation and constructive debate, where diversity of opinions is welcomed
Zana Vokopola
Executive Director
Executive Director of URI and senior regional policy expert with over 25 years of experience in leading climate risk and adaptation planning, institutional strengthening and stakeholder engagement at national and regional levels. Zana has also led projects supporting evidence-based policy, cross-border coordination, and participatory governance. She is engaged in driving green transformation and resilience planning that support Albania's path toward EU integration.
Ina Janushi
Human Resources and Finance Expert, Administrative Office
Financial planning expert with over 15 years of experience in the management and sustainable financing of protected areas: budgeting, business models, and investment planning. Ina is focused on financial sustainability, governance efficiency, and nature-based economic activities within protected area systems.
Elsa Dragoti
Legal Expert
Legal experts specialized in EU integration, the region, and alignment of national legislation with the EU acquis communautaire. She has experience in legal research, legislative analysis, and parliamentary processes, supporting legal and policy reforms linked to Albania’s EU accession process.
Erisa Seiti
Biologist
5 Local Staff
5 Local Staff in 5 different regions (Korce, DIber, Berat, Durres, Vlore)
Dritan Gorica
Environmental Engineer
Environmental expert with over 14 years of experience in environmental protection, water resources, public services, and waste management. Dritan is certified by the Ministry of Environment in Environmental Audits and Environmental and Strategic Impact Assessments. He specializes in environmental and social studies, municipal waste management, recycling and composting schemes, and provides technical assistance and capacity building to national and local authorities.
Marinela Spahiu
Public Administration Expert
Gender and communication expert with 12 years of experience in gender equality, stakeholder engagement, and strategic communication across climate, water, waste, and environmental services. Marinela leads public participation and communication strategies that make governance more inclusive, help translate EU policy into practice, and support a socially just green and climate transition.
Çarli Luka
Legal Expert
Legal Expert and Project Coordinator with a Master of Science in European Economy and Business Law from the University of Rome Tor Vergata. He specializes in legal and regulatory analysis of environmental frameworks, with a focus on aligning Albania’s waste management policies with EU directives. His experience includes monitoring legal frameworks for municipal waste data collection (DCM 538/2021), conducting institutional gap analyses, and providing legal support for project management and contractual compliance.
Frosina Gonxhi
Office Administrator
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Entela Kallamata
Finance and Economics Expert
Economics and finance expert, with 12 years of experience in environmental service analysis. Her expertise spans environmental and climate change policy analysis, financial needs and strategy analysis, institutional and administrative capacity building for climate change, and climate change risk assessment at the local level.
Borana Merjemaj
Environmental Engineer, Administrative Office
Environmental and Geoenvironmental Expert with over 10 years of experience in environmental management and sustainable development. Specialized in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), environmental monitoring, waste management, and sustainable infrastructure. Experienced in climate resilience, sustainable mobility, and EU-funded projects. Certified in Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Audit, with additional expertise in energy efficiency and Nature-based Solutions.
Valbona Ballgjini
Procurement Expert
Valbona Ballgjini has a background in human resources management, electoral administration and auditing. She has served as Director of Human Resources at a private company (2025–2026), as Director of Electoral Subjects, Financial Oversight and Monitoring at the Central Election Commission (2021–2024), and as Senior Auditor at the Supreme State Audit Institution (2018–2021). She holds a degree in Master of Science in Business Management from “Aleksandër Moisiu” University, Durrës. She is a certified Internal Auditor.
Liburn Audit
External whistleblowing investigator
Over the last 10 years I have had the opportunity to know the work of the staff at the Urban Research Institute: dedicated professionals with impartial stand, active participants in important developments of the country, such as the Administrative and Territorial Reform and the National Decentralization Strategy.
Significant is the fact that, despite difficulties encountered over the implementation of ArTVision: A live art Channel, considering its international dimension and complexity, their good management and persistence towards the supervisory authorities made it possible to achieve a final level of realization of 98% on behalf of the Ministry of Culture, constituting a successful story for projects of similar magnitude.
URI as a partner and valuable consultant, is characterised by professionalism and fairness in the development of local development projects and delivery of final products.
URI has demonstrated that it has deep knowledge of performance management and possesses professional capacities to build and operate sustainable systems, which combine the measurement and reporting of indicators of resources, products and results of development objectives and services.
For more than five years URI is the leading organization of a network of civil society organizations in Albania called Network for Environmental Services. This network aims to identify important environmental issues and address them both at local and central government level, proposing intervention and sustainable solutions for the enhancement of quality of environment.
URI’s projects have shown stability after their completion, which confirms the serious commitment and professionalism of the work carried out by this organization.
I express the utmost consideration and appreciation for URI’s professionalism and dedication over the years, the result of many years of experience in the field of environment, capacity building and local development planning, and cooperation with prestigious international donors.
Due to their excellent organizational skills and their professionalism, I highly recommend URI as a partner in any projects and scientific undertakings regarding service provision in Albanian municipalities.
URI embraces a growth mindset. The staff is empowered and committed, they have a strong team work and collaboration and innovation are their strong points.
With the professionalism shown in the past two decades and the commitment to raise the standard and accelerate the pace of its development, at both a local and national strategic level, URI has earned the trust of donors and that of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism in the development of the waste management sector, on which the development of the wider environmental and tourism sectors in the country directly depends. On this basis, to fulfil the purpose of its work, the Ministry constantly seeks URI’s support as a key partner for handling environmental issues in the country.
The Agricultural University of Tirana and the Urban Research Institute have exchanged both scientific and practical experience in joint efforts to guarantee sustainable land management through afforestation, sharing the best experiences and increasing the capacities of local and central actors by making a successful example of crossing academic research and practical application.
For the past year, I have received the Urban Research Institute’s assistance on numerous services, including business plan review, legal and economic analyses, capacity building, and environmental engineering. URI’s consultants showed excellent expertise, and swiftly tackled the areas that needed improvement. The results and feedback were great. It is through the use of their consultancy that we have been able to transform our business model.
