The University of Ioannina is a university located 5 km southwest of Ioannina, Greece. The university was founded in 1964, as a charter of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and became an independent university in 1970. As of 2017, there is a student population of 25,000 enrolled at the university (21,900 at the undergraduate level and 3,200 at the postgraduate level) and 580 faculty members, while teaching is further supplemented by 171 Teaching Fellows and 132 Technical Laboratory staff. The university Administrative Services are staffed with 420 employees. University of Ioannina is one of the leading academic institutions in Greece

The Decentralized Administration of Epirus and Western Macedonia is one of the seven decentralized administrations of Greece, consisting of the peripheries of Epirus and Western Macedonia. Seated in Ioannina, Epirus, it is currently led by Acting Secretary-General Vasileios Michelakis. Decentralized Administrations were created in January 2011 as part of a far-reaching reform of the country’s administrative structure, the Kallikratis reform. They enjoy both administrative and financial autonomy and exercise devolved state powers in urban planning, environmental and energy policy, forestry, migration and citizenship.

The University Hospital of Ioannina was established in 1990, has more than 760 beds and employs more than 2,000 staff members. It covers a very wide area, namely the western region of Greece, having a population catchment of more than 600,000 people. As a University Hospital, it also shares a long-standing affiliation with the Ioannina School of Medicine and the Ioannina School of Nursing. Some 45,000 people are treated annually in the Hospital’s Care Clinics and approximately 130,000 people use the Hospital’s Outpatient Department every year.

The University of Vlorë “Ismail Qemali” is a public university located in Vlorë, Albania. It was founded in 1994 as Vlorë University of Technology Ismail Qemali. As of 2014, it offers degrees in economics, public health, and humanities, in addition to engineering and technology.

Vlorë County is one of the 12 counties (also known as regions) of Albania. It is located in the south part of Albania on the Adriatic coast. The capital is the city of Vlorë. The Region is the second-level units of local government, while the municipalities and communes are considered as basic units of local government. The Regional Council consists of several members, who are elected by the councils of the local basic units (Municipality Councils). The Chairmen and Vice Chairman of the Regional Council are elected by the members of this council. The city of Vlorë remains a major seaport and commercial centre, with a significant fishing and industrial sector. Vlorë County has grown in importance in agriculture with very large-scale planting of olive and fruit trees, and the city has become center of the food processing, oil and bitumen export industries.