Capacity Building in International Relations and Project Writing is a type of programmatic partnership project, with a duration of 18 months, starting January 2018. The aim of this project is the internationalization of higher education institutions in Kosovo and capacity building for the needs of faculties. In addition, this project aims to support the development of international cooperation in Kosovo by collaborating in various joint programs and research studies with other universities.

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Initial meeting of the project "Capacity Building in International Relations and Project Writing"

On March 27, 2018, the kick-off meeting of the HERAS Programmatic Partnership project called "Capacity Building in International Relations and Project Writing", which will be implemented through an Austrian and Kosovar partnership, was held. The partnership is between the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences (SUAS) on the Austrian side, and on the Kosovar side:

University of Gjilan "Kadri Zeka" as project coordinator;

University of Applied Sciences in Ferizaj;

University of Prizren "Ukshin Hoti";

University of Gjakova "Fehmi Agani";

University of Peja "Haxhi Zeka" and

University of Mitrovica "Isa Boletini".

The official opening of the project took place at the University of Gjilan, where all the rectors of the mentioned public universities were present and presented the main developments in their Universities and the priority needs in the development of internationalization, mobilities, and projects. On the second day of the official launch, on March 28, the partner universities participated in the workshop organized at the University of Prizren, with the main focus on sharing best practices from the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences (SUAS) in the field of capacity building in international relations and project writing.

This programmatic partnership project will be implemented over 18 months, ensuring mobility, knowledge exchange and study visits between Austrian and Kosovar partners.

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Working meeting at the University of Applied Sciences in Salzburg, Austria within the HERAS project

Within the framework of the project entitled “Capacity building in international relations and project writing”, a working meeting was held in Salzburg, Austria, on June 19-22, with the participation of representatives of all participating institutions. From the University of Gjakova, Prof. Ass. Dr. Mimoza Dushi, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs and Mr. Denis Spahija, International Cooperation Officer.

The purpose of the workshop was to gain experience on international cooperation issues, including the internationalization strategy, the structure and organization of the cooperation office, the development of project proposals, the mobility of academic staff and students, the possibilities of applying to various programs for financing projects and mobilities.

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Trainings within the framework of the project “Capacity building in international relations and project writing”

In continuation of the project “Capacity building in international relations and project writing”, two two-day trainings were held on 28/02/2019 - 01/03/2019 and 28/03/2019 - 29/03/2019 where representatives of the UGJFA were Prof. Laura Naka and Denis Spahija. Many interesting topics were discussed there, such as: Internationalization of Universities from Concept to Practical Implications, International Positioning, what characterizes a World-Class University, How to Internationalize a Curriculum, Model for Comprehensive Internationalization, etc. The participants of this workshop will organize a workshop with similar topics in their institutions. Also, the draft regulation for internationalization of the participating universities of the project was discussed and worked on.