Workshop on best practices in Triple Helix partnerships

In Banja Luka, a first workshop in the framework of the pilot project ‘Triple Helix’ – partnerships among research community, business sector and public administration for the sector “Food” – was organised on March 31, 2011. It gathered 100 participants - including international experts - with the aim to convey the best practices on cooperation within the ‘triple helix’ of university-industry-government in BiH. The workshop provided an opportunity to learn about examples of the triple helix presented by experts from the universities of Stanford, Warsaw and Ljubljana, Fraunhofer, the Flanders’ Chamber of Commerce and the Teagasc Food Research Centre, Ireland.
The pilot project has the objective to strengthen the links between research and the business sector and to encourage SMEs to invest in research and innovation. Two additional workshops will conduct matchmaking between representatives of BiH academia, business and government with the aim to identify tangible partnership projects to be implemented in autumn 2011. Partnerships established in the food sector will serve as a model for the establishment of triple helix partnerships in other economic sectors.The pilot project is jointly implemented by the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) and the OECD Investment Compact for South East Europe (OECD IC), and is part of the Regional Competitiveness Initiative (RCI; see p.4), supported by the European Commission and the Government of Flanders.

EUREKA info day held in Sarajevo

The Ministry of Civil Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Directorate for European Integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina organised a EUREkA info day on February 1, 2011 in Sarajevo.
Some 50 participants attended the info day, including representatives of relevant Ministries, scientific and research centres and institutes, SMEs and universities. The speakers at the info day were Mr Svatopluk Halada of the EUREkA Secretariat in Brussels and Dr Aleš Mihelic, the EUREkA High-Level Representative for Slovenia. They presented opportunities offered under EUREkA, the participation of WBCs in EUREkA and the rules for participation in EUREkA projects. In addition, Ms Lidia Hipolito of the EurekaBuild2 umbrella presented
this particular thematic network and invited for cooperation. The info day was organised with the support of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation and the EUREkA Secretariat in Brussels.

Info Day: Transport

On March 17, 2011, Ministry of Civil Affairs organised an Info Day on transport research in Sarajevo with the support of the Austrian Development Agency. This event was an opportunity for local researchers to hear about
future research opportunities and calls in the field of transport within FP7, and to discuss and to define priorities for transport research. The lecturers at this event were Mr Fedor »erne (Slovenian Ministry of Transport), Mr David
Dorr (German NCP for transport and coordinator of the project ETNA), and Mr Danijel ŠogoroviÊ, NCP for Transport in BiH. Local researchers were also introduced to the conference “SEETRANS 2011” (Transport Research Opportunities for South East Europe in the EU), which took place in Ljubljana, Slovenia, from April 12 to 13, 2011.

EURAXESS Network Expanded to Bosnia and Herzegovina

Within the frame of the PEOPLE programme, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s academic institutions are implementing a project titled “Development of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Network of Mobility Centres (BAMONET)” with the main
aim to establish a EURAXESS network. The Bridgehead organisation is the University of Banja Luka and its EURAXESS Centre BIH.
There are numerous obstacles for researcher’s mobility in BIH and the intention of the BAMONET project is to try to facilitate the mobility process by the establishment of infrastructure for incoming researchers.
BAMONET started in May 2010 as a three-year project funded within the PEOPLE programme. The coordinator of this project is the Ministry of Civil Affairs, while the project partners are the two largest universities in BiH – the
University of Sarajevo and the University of Banja Luka.