ERI SEE and RCC Support for Higher Education
The Education Reform Initiative of South Eastern Europe – ERI SEE and the Regional Cooperation Council – RCC have continued their joint engagement to support higher education quality assurance in the Western Balkans through a series of regional activities in 2025.
In April 2025, a regional workshop, organised by the Agency for Science and Higher Education – ASHE, the RCC and the ERI SEE, brought together representatives of quality assurance agencies from the Western Balkans six economies in Zagreb, Croatia. The two-day event focused on advancing dialogue on quality assurance practices and the alignment of national and agency procedures with the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG).
The Workshop was preceded by the intensive exercise conducted by ASHE from November 2024 – February 2025 that included visits to all 6 QA agencies of the Western Balkans; analysing the systems, procedures, regulations and their compliance with the ESG; discussions and exchanges among the experts; and resulted in the Action plans for all 6 QA agencies. These Action plans, together with the up-dates on their status, and up-coming plans, were presented during the Zagreb workshop. This segment was followed by a Workshop on Self-evaluation report, where the participants were exploring the development of self-evaluation reports with the particular focus on the compliance of their institutions with the Standard Internal Quality Assurance and Professional Conduct, which allowed participants to engage in group work analysing the challenges and opportunities related to self-evaluation processes. On the following day, they presented the results of their analyses and exchanged ideas for improving internal quality assurance mechanisms. The final session of the workshop provided space for joint reflection and conclusions, together with the needs for future actions, led by ASHE and ERI SEE.
In September 2025, a study visit was organised by the RCC with support from the ERI SEE during which the Agency for Quality of Higher Education – AKVO of North Macedonia visited the ASHE in Zagreb. The main goals of the visit were: (1) capacity building for sustained quality assurance development, (2) strengthening ESG implementation and compliance with legal/regulatory frameworks (3) preparing for the upcoming ENQA review process. A highlight of the visit was the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two agencies, formalizing their commitment to closer cooperation. As a concrete outcome, the ASHE, RCC and ERI SEE agreed to prepare a document of recommendations to support AKVO in enhancing its quality culture and ESG implementation, ensuring strengthened institutional readiness for the forthcoming ENQA review.
These activities reflect ongoing engagement by the ERI SEE and RCC in supporting quality assurance agencies in higher education across the Western Balkans, with particular focus on alignment with the ESGs and supporting the ENQA membership process.
