Greatly enjoyed excellent presentations of papers on migration, labour market, and education; return and reintegration in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Kosovo, Montenegro, Albania, and Northern Macedonia. More to follow tomorrow on all things Western Balkans – diaspora and development; impact of remittances; brain drain and brain gain. Had a wonderful time presenting my paper on voluntary return migration to BiH and learnt so much from the stimulating discussion! It seems the online/hybrid format is here to stay, and although I participated virtually, it felt like I was together with all my colleagues in the Dea Conference room of Hotel Mondial in Tirana. Hybrid and online participation is the responsible way forward and it presents a much brighter future for academic conferences – cutting down on our carbon footprint, lowering costs of participation, and levelling the playing field for academics from around the world! Click here for the agenda.
