At the Fourth Rectors’ Forum of Southeast Europe and the Western Balkans, hosted by the University of Montenegro, UoM Rector Prof. Dr. Danilo Nikolić welcomed the rectors and representatives of 30 universities from the region.
Photo: University of Montenegro
“Through synergistic actions and cumulative efforts of the university leaders of Southeast Europe and the Western Balkans, we will more effectively advocate for common interests, promote developmental priorities and scientific initiatives, and ensure competitive access to international project funds and leading academic institutions,” said Rector Nikolić.
He emphasized that the rectors of the region have so far noted numerous opportunities for enhancing international cooperation and the development prospects of the region, and that now is the time to move from concrete proposals to even more concrete actions.
“It is now much more important to bring these shared ideas into our amphitheatres, laboratories, and incubators, to mobilize multidisciplinary and multi-research teams, and to work on open access to knowledge and information, as well as creating joint scientific databases and research infrastructure,” said Nikolić.
He said that the focus should shift from strategic action to operational action to achieve goals and results, guided by leadership responsibility.
The Rector of the University of Ljubljana, Prof. Dr. Igor Papič, as the chair of the Fourth Forum, welcomed all the rectors, invited them to the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the University, and announced that the next Rectors’ Forum would be held in Ljubljana on December 4th.
At this forum, the Rules of Procedure for the Rectors’ Forum of Southeast Europe and the Western Balkans were adopted, along with the Academic Inter-Institutional Cooperation Agreement.
Among other things, these rules of procedure define common goals related to the development of higher education at the regional level, areas of science and the arts, research and knowledge transfer, as well as a defined plan to strengthen academic integrity.
During the forum, joint conclusions from the previous Third Rectors’ Forum and common conclusions on further actions were presented during discussions on these same topics.
There was also discussion about the Berlin Process, which aims to support a peaceful, stable, and democratic future for the Western Balkans and to enhance regional cooperation and Euro-integration of the region. In this context, the Fifth Conference will be organized in London at the end of May 2019.
On the eve of the 45th anniversary of the University of Montenegro, the rectors and representatives of all 30 regional universities symbolically planted olive trees in the university campus as a gesture of good future cooperation with the University.
