Fostering cooperation in South Eastern Europe

The European Training Foundation and ERISEE (Education Reform Initiative of South Eastern Europe) signed a declaration of intent to strengthen their cooperation to modernise education and training systems in South Eastern Europe.
Focusing on its member countries – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia – the partnership will contribute to facilitating cooperation in the region. While taking into account international developments in education, the focus will remain on national context and priorities: the way towards sustainable economic developments and sustainable education reforms.

Regional cooperation: key to education developments
ERISEE is a Western Balkans organisation which supports sustainable education reforms at national level through regional and international cooperation. It was created in 2003 to boost strategic cooperation in the area of education and training, to increase the stability of the region in its EU accession process.
The EU Strategy for the Western Balkans reinforced this approach in its flagship initiative ‘Reconciliation, good neighbourly relations and regional cooperation’, where regional cooperation and good neighbourly relations are considered key to progress in the countries' respective European paths. ‘The existing regional initiatives need to be further exploited in order to continue contributing to political stabilisation and to create economic opportunities’, the document says, adding that ‘good neighbourly relations should continue to be reinforced through regional cooperation initiatives’ .

Education: a strategic priority in the Western Balkans
In such a process, education plays a key role. As mentioned in its Strategy for the Western Balkans, the EU adds that ‘the role of education must be given a higher priority especially in terms of fostering greater tolerance, promoting European values and strengthening the cohesion of society’.  More specifically, the EU identifies as priorities (South Eastern Europe 2020 Strategy) the reduction of early leavers from education and training and the increase in tertiary educational attainment. In this regard, the EU advises to strengthen links between education and labour market systems, in particular through work-based learning, the standardisation of qualifications and lifelong training of teachers.

Background
Together with the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research, European Training Foundation advises ERISEE’s governing board members in shaping sustainable education reforms in South Eastern Europe. ERISEE's governing board consists of representatives appointed by ministries in charge of education from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia – as well as a representative of the KulturKontakt Austria as donor, and the Regional Cooperation Council.