#eu4youth
Western Balkans: A Better Region start with Superschools
Objective(s) of the session
- Provide general information about the Regional Youth Cooperation Office in the Western Balkans, its Mission & main achievements.
- Introduce the concept and implementation of the activities within the youth exchange program Superschools.
- Sharing of the personal experience of the RYCO Programme Officer in Montenegro in regard to Superschools activities on both, regional and local levels.
RYCO has been initiated as a result of the Western Balkans Initiative at the 2014 Western Balkans Summit in Berlin (known as the “Berlin Process”) and has since been officially set up and funded by the WB governments. Having started operations in 2017, RYCO has since aimed at promoting the spirit of reconciliation and cooperation between youth in the region through youth exchange programs. RYCO is genuinely dedicated to contributing to the process of reconciliation, the establishment of trust and of mutual understanding between the youth and citizens of the Western Balkans.
RYCO Superschools is a program for school exchanges in the Western Balkans that supports peacebuilding and reconciliation processes, intercultural learning, and dialogue among schools, students, and their communities. By participating in this program, the selected secondary schools have the chance to implement school-to-school exchanges as well as to participate in the program’s activities dedicated to their capacity building, networking, and cooperation. The RYCO Superschools program is part of a multi-donor project “Western Balkans School Exchange Scheme” co-financed by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) together with the Regional Youth Cooperation Office RYCO.
Project in the frames of which the session was developed
CO Superschools - Western Balkans School Exchange Scheme (co-financed by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH)
Bojana Lalatović
Bojana Lalatović works as a Programme Officer at the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO) in Montenegro. She holds an MA in Law in European Integration from the University of Belgrade, where she is also a third-year PhD candidate in the International Public Law Department. Bojana has previously worked for civic organisations focusing on EU integration processes for the Western Balkans. Due to her academic excellence, she has been awarded several prestigious scholarships. She participated in the ERASMUS+ mobility programme at the University of Roma Tre, Italy. Bojana speaks four languages – Montenegrin/Serbian, English, Russian and Italian.