Dear Mr Delepeleer,
As part of our on-going monitoring of Erasmus activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a field monitoring visit took place on the 30th of June 2016 at the University of Sarajevo.
I had the pleasure together with my colleagues from the National Erasmus Office in Bosnia and Herzegovina Mr Suad Muhibic (Head of Office) and Ms Nena Markovic (Project Officer) to meet and discussed the progress of activities with representatives of the project in the country.
We would like to thank all participants in the field monitoring visit for the time they devoted to the discussions and for having provided updated and detailed information on the current situation in a structured and accessible way.
The project activities have been implemented in line with the project proposals, without major changes. However, some students were additionally involved in the surveying process in order to improve self-evaluation process. An initial delay of 3-4 months was reported, and seems to be caused by additional clarification of rules about reimbursement of funds, which postponed signature of partnership agreements.
It seems that the project is managed well by the coordinator KU Leuven with the support of the national coordinator the University of East Sarajevo. The project management structure has been established including the Project Consortium Board (PCB) and Executive Board (EB). The partnership agreements have been signed covering issues included in EACEA’s template. According to the information received, all partners are actively involved in implementation of the activities including ministries and agencies. However, the significance and the role of the EU partners in general should be more evidenced and show the value of knowledge transfer. It is thus kindly requested to invite representative of these institutions to assist in further Monitoring Visits.
The most important activities implemented thus far include: organization of the kick off meeting, implementation of “Analysis of literature and existing legislation in B&H”, preparation of project management plans (e.g. Dissemination and Sustainability Plan, Communication management plan, Risk management plan, Conflict resolution strategy), and evaluation of the meetings. The equipment is planned to be purchased in the 2nd year of the project.
The project has had positive impact on academic and non-academic staff, providing opportunities to strengthen their knowledge and skills in the field of internationalization and recognition mechanisms, as well opportunities to exchange experience with EU partners. The project has also had some positive impact on HEIs by enabling them to assess current situation and conduct self-evaluation process, including surveying different levels of management and students. In order to enhance international credit mobility, some inter-institutional agreements have already been signed between KU Leuven and BiH HEIs.
The dissemination activities are clearly defined by the Dissemination and Sustainability Plan, and some activities have been implemented in line with the Plan (e.g. creation of the web page www.stint-project.net, publication of the 1st newsletter, dissemination activities via web pages of partner institutions, publication of articles in newspapers, and preparation of Glossary Internationalization).
Sustainability of the project results can be ensured by support provided by management of HEIs and use of the project outputs in institutional strategies, as well as through further developments in the field of internationalization and recognition mechanisms by the relevant agencies and ministries.
On the basis of the visit findings, we would like to make the following recommendations and kindly ask you to take them on board during the next months:
1. Enhance international cooperation through exchange of the knowledge and experience with the EU partners, as well as among BiH HEIs (e.g. job shadowing, study visits etc.)and evidence the significance and the role of the EU partners;
2. Continue with active cooperation and involvement of ministries and agencies in order to ensure further support of policy makers to the project activities and results;
3. Disseminate the results towards other relevant institutions/organizations in BiH in order enhance the impact and sustainability of the project;
4. Consider possibilities of participation in the second round of applications for Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility 2016 (more information available at the following link: http://www.erasmusbih.com/index.php/news/150-second-round-of-applications-for-erasmus-international-credit-mobility-2016 );
5. Finalize activities related to the drafting of the Glossary Recognition, in line with visibility instructions, available at the above link https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/about-eacea/visual-identity_en;
6. Continue with implementation of all on-going and remaining activities.
Please ensure the dissemination of this feedback to your project partners and do not hesitate to contact us or the National Erasmus+ Office in case further information is needed.
We kindly ask you to include in the Final Report your follow-up on the above-mentioned recommendations.
We wish you a successful continuation of your activities.
Best regards,
FRANCO BURGIO
Programme Manager
European Commission
Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA)
Managing programmes and activities on behalf of the European Commission
Erasmus+: Higher Education – International Capacity Building (Unit A4)
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