FOREWORD
Each article on this blog is trying to bring in front of the reader best practices of cooperation among universities in the Western Balkan region, relevant examples which can be taken as a model.
During our research we have faced many difficulties since some of the universities have not been very cooperative in helping us collecting information and for this reason important universities of the region are not included in the booklet. Another point to be emphasized is that there were a lot of best practices examples found from public and private universities in the region but we couldn’t include all of them in one publication therefore the officers of the respective universities are invited at the panel discussion event to be organized in the beginning of March 2011.
The authors of this publication, are grateful to the partners of the Southeast Europe and the EU - Leadership Development Programme, an academic programme jointly developed by the College of Europe (Bruges), the TRANSFUSE Association (Berlin) and the European Fund for the Balkans (Belgrade) for making this publication possible through their technical and financial support.
Most of the articles are prepared by us personally but with a great contribution from the officers of the universities who didn’t hesitate to support us by offering useful information for our booklet. Therefore, we would like to thank to Ms. Hana Kursani (Office for International Relations, University of Prishtina), Ms. Lejla Turcilo (International Cooperation Office, University of Sarajevo, Faculty of Political Sciences), Professor Hrvoje Brkić, PhD (Vice Dean for international cooperation at the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Zagreb), Prof. Jordana Marković, PhD. (Faculty of Philosophy, University of Niš), Prof. Srećko Jelušić, PhD, Vice-Rector, University of Zadar, Gordana Ristić (Foreign Cooperation Administrator, Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Belgrade) and many others.
A special thanks goes to the EU Information and Cultural Center for offering us their facility to launch this publication and holding the panel discussion. Moreover, we are very grateful for the panelists who accepted to participate at the panel discussion to be held on 4th of March 2011 in Prishtina, Kosovo, because without their contribution our project will not be implemented.
INTRODUCTION
Education is one of the most important instruments in terms of regional cooperation not only in the Balkan region but all around the world. Throughout history - even during war times - every nation has established cooperation in the field of education with other states and nations. Young generations, being the most open to change and new developments, have always been in the centre of this cooperation and solidarity. Thus the founding fathers of European integration and the subsequent leaders put educational cooperation at the centre of the Europeanization process in the countries of the European Community and its neighbourhood. With this approach, the Erasmus programme and all other relevant cooperation projects are bringing young people together. Year after year, thousands of students are changing their university environment, their cities and even their countries. Today, this cooperation has gone far beyond the main motto of the European integration - “making war unthinkable”. Aside from wars and xenophobia, people in the region and particularly the young generation started to create and develop a parallel synergy with democracy and economic prosperity. It might be argued that the main policy behind the enlargement process of the EU shares the same roots: the spread of cooperation and development. Opening a new chapter and being successful in the after-war era of relations between people is a task that can be fulfilled in the Western Balkan countries only by the young generation. In that regard, cooperation of the young generations could constitute synergy with the consolidation of democracy and become one of the key actors leading to the reconciliation of the region. As a result, cooperation in the field of education serves the integration of the Balkans into the European Union and can become the main driving force of this process.For further information about us, our research, the panel debate or the project, you can contact us on educationbalkans [at] gmail.com.
