ImprESS (Improving Academic and Professional Education Capacity in Serbia in the area of Safety & Security (by means of strategic partnership with the EU)

Call topic: Erasmus+ - Key Action 2 - Capacity building in the field of higher education: LINK

Call: LINK 

Call text: LINK

Project idea:

Basic idea of the project is that the academic education capacity in the countries in the process of joining the EU should be improved in order to meet new needs and challenges in Europe. The project can contribute to this problem by means of enhancing the capacity building in the field of academic and professional education in the area of Safety & Security.

The area is currently of a great interest and importance for Europe. The countries on the way of accession are playing a crucial role in this case, as the possible safety & security threats for the EU can easily have their ’’weak point’’ and/or ’’gateway’’ exactly in these countries (e.g. the terrorists misusing the ’’Balkan refugee route’’). On the other hand, the organizational and infrastructural capacity of these countries is often not well aligned with the one in the EU and one of the main reasons for this lack of alignment is often the suboptimal academic and professional educational capacity of these countries, in the area of safety & security.

The ImprESS project intends to improve exactly this in the following way: by means of strategic partnership (’’knowledge alliance’’) it will set up the model (WP2) for improving the educational capacity in the area of ’’sector skill alliance’’ for Safety & Security (SSASS). Based on this model a sample educational infrastructure (curriculum, modules, courses, academic and para-academic educational activities) will be established and implemented in Serbia (WP3). Once established, the infrastructure will be used to improve the current educational capacity of 5 participating universities in Serbia (WP4). The improved capacities at 5 Serbian universities, together with those at the supporting EU academic education institutes will be integrated into Regional Center for Training & Education in area of Safety & Security (TESS)* (WP5). The Center will integrate also the particular high speed/ high-capacity computer support need for the simulation exercises needed for the advanced training and include the most advanced techniques & technologies in the area (agent-based modelling, data mining, web semantics, image processing, AI, interactive visualization, etc.). The experiences and the results of the project will be published as a model for possible improvement in other countries (e.g. the other non-EU counties, strongly linked to the Safety & Security issues in the EU). The consortium will include 2 Serbian private universities, 3 public universities and leading universities in the field in Europe (Germany, Italy and Poland).

The project will have profound impact not only onto the educational infrastructure in Serbia, but also onto the overall safety/security situation and infrastructures ensuring it. This will be achieved (WP6) primarily by:

          a) alignment with the EU practices and

          b) including the most advanced state-of-the-art studies.

On the other hand, the project will have an impact on the ’’EU side’’, too: the participating European institutions will have the unique opportunity for the first-hand experience with safety & security education-related issues in the countries beyond the EU-borders. This will happen with the active support from four European universities.

Consortium partners:

1. The Academy of Criminalistic and Police Studies, Serbia
2. Steinbeis University Berlin, Steinbeis Transfer Institute Advanced Risk Technologies (SHB), Germany
3. Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Italy
4. The Main School of Fire Service (SGSP), Poland
5. University of Stuttgart, Germany
6. Metropolitan University, Serbia
7. Educons University, Serbia
8. University of Belgrade, Serbia
9. University of Defence, Serbia
10. Steinbeis Advanced Risk Technologies Institute doo Kragujevac
11. ATRISC, France

List of Work packages:

• WP1: Preparation
• WP2: Model for improving the educational capacity in the area of ’’sector skill alliance’’ for safety & security
• WP3: Setting up the infrastructure for applying the Model
• WP4: Applying the Model in Serbia
• WP5: Establishing the Training and education safety & security center in Serbia
• WP6: Quality plan
• WP7: Dissemination and Exploitation
• WP8: Management

List of major deliverables:

• D1: Courses – based on the Study Program in the area of Safety & Security successfully led by European Universities (Germany, Italy, and Poland) will be included into curricula of Serbia’s Universities
• D2: Regional Center for Training & Education in the area of Safety & Security (TESS) – creating a platform where Serbian’s students will be able to acquire experience in a practical way by attending workshops, simulation exercises including usage of the most advanced techniques & technologies in the area (agent-based modelling, data mining, web semantics, image processing, AI, interactive visualization, etc.)
• D3: Model for the other Universities with results and experiences coming from the project (in line with the EU law regulations) which allow organization of trainings and improvement of quality of learning and ensure better preparedness for future specialists when dealing with natural and person-made disasters (including also industrial accidents).

Duration: 36 months

Contact:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.