Development of an innovative Postgraduate Education programme in Veterinary pUblic heaLth and fOod Safety in Western Balkan area

ongoing

Considering Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina’s will to access the EU, and the existing gaps with the EU aquis, the main aim of our project is to develop innovative post-graduate and Master’s degree education programmes in veterinary public health and food safety for the first time in English, to bring these countries closer to EU standards in matter of education and public health. The specific objectives are to improve: i) the quality of higher education through innovative teaching/learning techniques and establishing English courses; ii) the knowledge and skills in disciplines relevant to public health, veterinary medicine and animal production, reducing the discrepancy between training and work market demands; iii) the international relationships as well as the networks among institutions, agencies and universities; iv) the digital transformation. The innovative didactical activities provided are Teach the Teacher method, b-learning (multimedia classroom upgrade), summer schools, e-platform creation, and international weeks. The beneficiary for the project will be 28 university lecturers and 24 students from the 4 partner country universities, university lectures’ colleagues, future students, the 4 university communities, and, indirectly, the stakeholders and citizens of the involved countries. The expected results will be: the creation of the post-graduate school and a Master, the digital modernization of the universities and their international activity improvement, the enhancement of the teaching activity quality, the creation of new modules or curricula on veterinary public health and food safety, the training of a critical mass of experts with up to dating knowledge, and skills and the improvement of the citizens and legislators’ awareness in these fields. All project outcomes will contribute to bring Western Balkan area closer to EU public health standards and will empower universities as key actors of change in green and digital transition.