On 26 September 2023, HERAS Plus has supported the Kosovo Accreditation Agency (KAA) to organize the first conference of its kind, related to the ‘Higher Education The impact of QA Mechanisms on establishing a quality culture’.

The conference was officially addressed by the President of the Board of KAA, Prime-minister of Republic of Kosova, Minister of Education Science Technology and Innovation, Austrian Ambassador to Kosovo and the General Director of KAA. They all contributed with important statements for the success of the conference (and beyond) such as: Increasing the quality of education at all levels; the government focus is to ensure the independence of the Accreditation Agency and higher education institutions; the internationalization of higher education – through joint study programs, increased participation in international academic and scientific cooperation programs, and integration into the European Higher Education Area; this conference will contribute towards improvement of the quality in Higher Education and support the KAA to gain full membership to the EQAR and ENQA.

The conference also proceeded with different session and panelists and addressed the i) The relevance of international QA structures and initiatives for quality of higher education; ii) QA systems in Western Balkans and the European Higher Education Area and last but not the least iii) The contribution, role and involvement of stakeholders in quality assurance of higher education.

Noteworthy, in addition to the conference, the HERAS Plus and its implementing consortium WUS Austria, have provided systematic support for the KAA in addressing the recommendations of the EQAR/ENQA and specifically has supported the revision of the accreditation standards, the development of the law on KAA, study visit to Brussels, twinning cooperation between the KAA and the AQ Austria and many similar interventions.