Summer School

About the Course

Name of the course: Building Capacities for Regional Development – From Theory to Practice

Venue: Faculty of Economics and Engineering Management, Novi Sad, Serbia

Time and duration of the course: 22 August 2012- 29 August 2012

Number of ECTS credits: 3

Language of instruction: English

Course content

Sustainable evolution of countries in the region, with unequal development levels and at different stages of transitional, institutional, functional and structural transformations, can be achieved only in the context of regional integration. That is why the purpose of this course is to focus on building capacities for strengthening regional integration and address the forthcoming short-term and long-term transitional, political and economic developments on the path towards European Union (EU) membership. As countries move from transitional to the post-transitional stage of economy, institutional changes, sustainable development, financial markets’ efficiency, stabilization and economic restructuring become the focus of public policy making. This also includes political and macroeconomic stability, prospects of growth, better usage of natural resources, defining property rights, policy making, establishing regulatory framework, as well as improving the quality of physical and social infrastructure (transport, communication, skilled labor, and public services).

The course will cover the following topics:

• The transition process in the Western Balkans (past, present and future);

• The role of development agencies and companies in fostering entrepreneurship;

• The EU open access policy and technology transfer in the SME (small to mid-sized enterprises) framework;

• Human capital as a basic premise of moving towards the knowledge- based society;

• The agricultural policy movement towards the EU Common Agricultural Policy;

• Eco-tourism and ethno tourism as factors of rural development;

• Creating values in inland waterways transport;

• Environment protection;

• Examples of regional resources exploitation (the river Danube Strategy, organic agriculture, slow food production, marina development, etc.)

Intended learning outcomes

• To develop an approach to problem - solving and generate original ideas on most effective utilization of available resources;

• To learn about benefits of regional cooperation (based on concrete examples and theoretic scenarios) and discover methods of achieving country and regional development through strengthened individual and institutional skills and knowledge;

• To identify most adequate economic reforms, changes and improvements in public policy and mechanisms for enhancing transparency and competition on the trajectory to EU;

• To learn about the EU financial assistance framework and ways of improving competitiveness, entrepreneurship, innovative potential, research and technological development;

• To get acquainted with the principal obstacles to investment while, at the same time, developing specific resource- based mechanisms to facilitate trade and investment in the region.

Teaching methods

• Lectures

• Student teamwork

• Field trips and excursions (City hall, University campus, Bread museum, slow-food grange, The Petrovaradin fortress, The Dundjerski castle, the village and vineyards of Sremski Karlovci, the Strand sandy beach, the Novi Sad marina)

• Experts from the field of regional development

• E-learning

Lectures: 16h

Training and Excursion: 22h

E-learning: 10h

Individual studies: 30h