Introductory Meeting on the Erasmus+ Project on Digital Education

With the introductory meeting held in Ljubljana on 14 and 15 February 2024, the implementation of the Erasmus+ project "Digital Education Readiness in the field of Higher Education - DERHE" began, in which the University of Banja Luka takes part as a member of the consortium.

Altogether eight universities and four chambers of commerce participated in the project, namely: University of Ljubljana, project coordinator, Catholic University of Leven, University of Banja Luka, University of East Sarajevo, University of Sarajevo, University of Montenegro, University of Tirana, Polytechnic University of Tirana, Chamber of Commerce of the Republic of Srpska, Chamber of Commerce of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro and Chamber of Commerce of Tirana. The meeting was attended by members of the project team: Prof. Zorana Tanasić, PhD, and Prof. Goran Janjić, PhD, who are institutional coordinators from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Prof. Dragan Gligorić, PhD, from the Faculty of Economics.

The goal of the project is to develop adequate courses on the blended-learning concept with the help of universities from the European Union, and on the basis of data obtained from chambers of commerce from the Western Balkans on the lack of knowledge in companies related to optimization, new technologies and soft skills. which would be implemented for the purpose of the business sector and students.

Through the project, an information portal will be developed that will serve as a link between higher education institutions and the business sector, on which companies would raise their real business problems, the solution of which would be solved through seminars, final papers of the first and second cycle of studies, in consultation with their professors and teaching assistants.

As part of the implementation of the project, the plan is to equip higher education institutions participating in the project in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Albania. Thus, among other things, a Distance Learning and LEAN Production Centre will be established at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Banja Luka, where laboratory equipment for simulating the optimization of business processes will be located.

The overall goal of the project is to contribute to the development of readiness for digital education in the field of higher education in the Western Balkans and to strengthen ties with the industrial sector.

The project has four specific objectives:

1. Strengthening the capacity of partner higher education institutions for effective networking in scientific cooperation and knowledge transfer related to the new industrial paradigm, digitalization and soft skills development.
2. Increased employability of students through the development of their abilities and skills and the creation of more attractive curricula.
3. Improving the competitiveness of companies by increasing their added value.
4. Improving communication between higher education institutions and the business sector.