The kick-off meeting for the initiation of this new regional Cluster of Knowledge was successfully organized in February 2013 in Podgorica, Montenegro by the Montenegrin Vocational Education and Training Centre in cooperation with the Task Force Fostering and Building Human Capital (TFBHC) and Education Reform Initiative of South East Europe (ERI SEE).
This meeting gathered the participants from Austria, Albania, Kosovo*, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, and Serbia, who are dealing with the questions of Teacher Training in their professional life. A particular feature of the meeting was the diverse background of participants, since it included policy makers, research community, representatives from the state institutions as well as the representatives from universities.
The aim of the meeting was to allow regional stakeholders to outline the current state of play in their countries in the field of teacher in-service and pre-service training, and to discuss and identify challenges on the cross national level. Based on the discussion, the participants had an opportunity to discuss possible joint, regional solutions and to identify next steps within this new Cluster of Knowledge.
*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.