9TH RECTORS' FORUM OF SOUTHEAST EUROPE AND WESTERN BALKANS
From September 11 to 12, 2024, the University St. Kliment Ohridski Bitola will host the 9th meeting of the Rectors' Forum of Southeast Europe and Western Balkans.
This regional cooperation was established several years ago, and over the past years, the universities of the region have worked together to ensure the successful work of the Rectors’ Forum of Southeast Europe and the Western Balkans as an important regional higher education network to enhance cooperation among universities and become the voice of academic institutions in the region.
This year, University “St Kliment Ohridski” – Bitola celebrates its 45th anniversary since its formal establishment in 1979 and the 100th anniversary of its oldest unit - the Tobacco Institute in Prilep, but also pays tribute to the 90th anniversary of the first student organisation in Bitola. In parallel, this year UKLO became a partner of COLOURS European University Alliance which is one more significant historical milestone for the future direction of progress.
In the light of these milestones, we organised a series of events to reflect on our achievements and discuss future opportunities and growth within the academic community. The discussions focused on the future development of university alliances, university values, opportunities for joint project proposals and other activities, as well as matchmaking events.
The welcome address was delivered by Prof. Dr. Igor Nedelkovski, Rector of University “St. Kliment Ohridski” – Bitola who pointed out the positive impact of such an important event such as the Rectors forum, with synergies with the European university alliances, such as COLOURS, EUTOPIA, YUFE as well as EUA to be hosted in Bitola, North Macedonia.
Prof. Dr. Joseph Garrell, President of the European University Association, gave a plenary session on European University Alliances and introduced the discussion on the University Alliances initiative, the reaction of universities to this initiative, the impact, opportunities and challenges of the initiative. He pointed out that only 10% of European universities have the opportunity to join an alliance, but that transnational cooperation must benefit all university systems and most must not be restricted by cooperation in an EU alliance. There are many challenges for the universities that have decided to join one of the alliances, but also for the universities that have not joined an alliance. He pointed out that different countries have different legal frameworks, legislation and funding and that legal reform is needed.
The plenary session was followed by a debate and reflection by the presidents and general secretaries of the University Alliances. Prof. Dr. Torsten Meier, President of the COLOURS Alliance, Dr. Mattia Bellotti, Secretary General of the EUTOPIA Alliance, Maria-Valerie Schegk, Secretary General of the YUFE Alliance and Prof. Dr. Joseph Garrell, President of the EUA, discussed the future development of the university alliances. The event also provided an opportunity to establish cooperation between different European university alliances.
The debate was followed by a General Assembly in which the participants discussed the annual report, the financial plan, the reports and plans of the working groups and new membership initiatives. Three universities were accepted as new members of the Rectors' Forum - the Aristotle University in Thessaloniki from Greece, the University of Applied Sciences in Ferizaj from Kosovo and the University Isa Boletina in Mitrovica.
In the afternoon, the participants split into small parallel groups to discuss the possibilities of cooperation within the Marie Sklodowska-Curie actions, the UniAdrian-Ionian Interreg programme and other joint projects and activities. The universities have also committed to strengthening cooperation through the Centres for Advanced Studies (CAS) network and through joint applications for European and other projects, the organisation of joint events, conferences and symposia, and the promotion of student and staff exchanges and other activities.
The second day was dedicated to the discussion of the values of universities. Representatives of the University of Sarajevo, Prof. Dr. Rifat Škrijelj, Rector, Prof. Dr. Enita Nakaš, Vice Rector for International Cooperation, Prof. Dr. Dušanka Bošković, Vice Rector for Quality, and Dr. Zilka Spahić Šiljak presented Integrity in Universities, Universities for Peace and Gender Equality and Diversity (UNIGEM project). This was followed by a round table discussion in which Prof. Dr. Mirjana Nikolić, Rector of the University of Arts in Belgrade, Dr. Gazela Pudar Draško, Director of the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory at the University of Belgrade, and Prof. Dr. Nataša Poklar Ulrih, EUTOPIA institutional coordinator at the University of Ljubljana exchanged their views and experiences on the values of universities.
