A two-day seminar to discuss issues related to the management of human resources in public higher education in the Western Balkans was held at the University of Sarajevo from 14 to 15 June 2012. Seminar was organised by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) of the European Commission in the framework of the EU-funded Tempus programme.

Mr Sredoje Novic, Minister of Civil Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Ms Natalia Dianiskova, Head of Operation Section for Social Development, Civil Society and Cross Border Cooperation at the EU Delegation to BiH, greeted some 80 representatives from countries of the Western Balkans and underlined the importance of the topic for the region.

Tempus is a major education cooperation programme promoting higher education modernisation and development in the neighbouring countries of the EU. The programme has a wide range of activities funding university cooperation projects in the Partner Countries of Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Western Balkans and the Southern Mediterranean region. Since 1990, the EU has made available over 1.4 billion EUR for Tempus programme, funding more than 3800 cooperation projects. More than 750 projects have been funded in the Western Balkans since the start of the programme and currently around 70 projects are ongoing in the region. These projects last two to three years and aim to introduce long term structural change, as well as to encourage people-to-people contacts and intercultural understanding.

‘Tempus has facilitated the implementation of higher education reforms in Bosnia and Herzegovina through projects which, for example, have contributed to promoting the Bologna process and developing the quality of higher education in the country. It has also given university staff the opportunity to travel to and to build relations with higher education institutions in the neighbouring countries and the EU’ noted in his welcoming remarks BiH Minister of Civil Affairs, Sredoje Novic.

Natalia Dianiskova, from the EU Delegation to BiH, said, ‘Tempus Programme has played a major role in supporting the development of higher education in the Western Balkans. It has been one of the foundation stones of the EU Enlargement process and has helped prepare Candidate Countries for the transition to EU membership. Today it has a key role to play in creating an open space for enhanced cooperation with the EU, promoting bilateral cooperation between individual countries and co-operation at regional level’.

Over the two days, university and ministry representatives as well as coordinators of Tempus offices in the region discussed the general challenges and trends in human resource management in higher education, identifying examples of good practices and looking at recent initiatives in the countries concerned. The seminar offered a unique opportunity to exchange information and experiences about ongoing developments in the EU and in the region. The discussion was based on the results of a Tempus study carried out in 2011 by two independent experts.

Klaus Haupt, Head of the Unit responsible for the management of the Tempus programme at the EACEA, underlined that the Tempus programme provides a unique platform for the exchange of best practices within the region and hoped that the seminar would lead to concrete recommendations and advice for practitioners and policy makers.

For additional information: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/tempus/

The Tempus study “Human Resource Management in Public Higher Education in the Tempus Partner Countries” is available at the following address:

http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/tempus/tools/publications_en.php

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