Vice-Rector Balaban Participated in the Work of the Ministerial Conference

Vice-Rector for International and Interuniversity Cooperation of the University of Banja Luka Prof. Milica Balaban, PhD, participated in the work of the Ministerial Conference of the Western Balkans: Quality Assurance in Higher Education - Trends and Development in the European Union and the Western Balkans, held on 26 and 27 September 2023 in Skopje.

The two-day event comprised presentations by European experts at the highest level, and panel discussions with policy makers and representatives of key institutions in charge of quality assurance in the Western Balkans, led by the President of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) Douglas Blackstock and the Director of the European Quality Assurance Register (EQAR) Magalie Soenen. On the second day of the conference, study visits were organized to "St. Cyril and Methodius" University and the International Balkan University in Skopje.

It is important to emphasize that this conference resulted in the Western Balkans policy recommendations for quality in higher education . It is a document that lists the main approaches for improving and ensuring quality in higher education in the Western Balkans, with the aim of creating conditions for the provision of high-quality, internationally recognized and competitive higher education in accordance with the requirements of both regional and global economic and social trends.

The conference in which Vice-Rector Balaban took part as a representative of the Rector's Conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina was organized by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of North Macedonia, in cooperation with the Education Reform Initiative of South Eastern Europe (ERI SEE), gathering regional ministers and other representatives of regional authorities and agencies in charge of higher education quality assurance, university representatives and other higher education experts.