The implementation of the Erasmus+ project: Digital Education Readiness in the field of Higher Education (DERHE) began with the introductory meeting of the project consortium, which was held at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, on 15-16. February, 2024. The purpose of the project is to transfer knowledge and strengthen the capacity of universities in the Western Balkans, upgrading competence to use new technologies to establish an attractive learning and teaching environment. It is very important to point out that based on information from chambers of commerce from three Western Balkan countries, the needs of the industry were identified, i.e. missing knowledge related to digitization, Industry 5.0, energy efficiency, optimization and improvement of processes in the light of new regulatory requirements related to CBAM (carbon taxes at source) and ESG standards. Based on the identified needs of the industry, but also using the real problems of the companies, six blended courses will be developed.

It is important to point out that the project DERHE will establish a multi-purpose portal to enhance cooperation between universities and the economy, which will enable the exchange of good practices and the creation of solutions for real problems of companies, which will be created by students and professors as a part of official academic education. Within the project, it is planned to equip and establish/strengthen centers for digital education at universities. At UNSA, these activities will be forwarded to strengthen the capacity of DigiEdu.ba.

Apart from the University of Ljubljana (SLO) which is the coordinator and the University of Sarajevo (BiH), another 10 partners participate in the implementation of the project: KU Leuven (BE), University of Banja Luka (BiH), University of East Sarajevo (BiH), University of Montenegro (MNE), University of Tirana (ALB), Polytechnic University of Tirana (ALB), Chamber of Commerce of Republika Srpska (BiH), Chamber of Commerce of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH), Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro (MNE ), Chamber of Commerce & Industry Tirana (ALB).

The DERHE project will certainly strengthen UNSA's efforts to improve and modernize the learning and teaching ecosystem, which will follow the requirements of new technology and the strategic development goals of the Development Agenda for the Western Balkans, as well as the UN's global sustainable development goals. All achievements, activities, and initiatives of this important and challenging project will be publicly presented, and all interested parties will be invited to get involved and make their contribution to strengthening academic education in BiH. Stay tuned.