Project Kick-off Meeting
The kick-off meeting of the Erasmus+ project Harmonized and Sustainable Pharmacy Education for Open Europe was held on 21–22 October 2024 at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Belgrade. The meeting gathered representatives from the partner institutions, including the Faculty of Pharmacy, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, the University of Valencia, and the University of Belgrade, marking the official start of the project collaboration.
The meeting began with welcoming remarks and introductions by the deans, vice-deans, and project participants. The project coordinator, Gjose Stefkov, presented the overall project concept, including the partnership structure, main objectives, work plan, timeline, and planned activities. The discussion emphasized the importance of harmonizing pharmacy education across partner institutions while integrating sustainability principles into academic programmes.
A dedicated session focused on Erasmus+ project management and administration, where participants shared experience from previous project cycles and discussed approaches for effective coordination and quality assurance. The proposed quality management strategy and supporting documentation were presented to ensure the smooth implementation and monitoring of project activities.
Another important part of the programme addressed higher education for sustainable development, where good practices from the University of Valencia were presented. The discussion highlighted how sustainability concepts can be integrated into pharmacy curricula and how universities can contribute to achieving broader sustainability goals through education and research.
The partners also discussed the project dissemination strategy, including communication activities, visibility of project results, and engagement with academic and professional stakeholders. In addition, working groups were established to coordinate specific project areas, including internationalisation, sustainability, and dissemination, enabling structured collaboration between partner institutions.
On the second day of the meeting, separate sessions of the Project Coordination Board and the thematic working groups were held. These meetings focused on planning the first phase of project implementation, defining responsibilities among partners, and identifying initial activities such as the development of project communication tools, internal documentation templates, and collaborative platforms for information sharing.
The meeting concluded with a joint discussion summarizing the agreed actions and next steps, setting a strong foundation for the successful implementation of the project and for continued collaboration between the partner institutions in advancing harmonized and sustainable pharmacy education in Europe.