On 11 August 2020, the Ministry of Education and Science (MES) has established a working group (WG) which will be in charge of the policies and the regulatory framework in the field of applied science. This development came as a result of advocacy and request from the HERAS+ towards the MES Minister and his cabinet. Through the WG, the HERAS+ will also provide support to the development and implementation of recommendations outlined, therein related to the development of these regulatory frameworks. The joint work will be based on an ongoing dialogue between the project team and MES together with other key stakeholders and it is expected that it will result with a potential new law, and or new administrative instruction and or new regulation in the field of applied science. Noteworthy, the WG was initially established during the previous phase of the project (HERAS) and now updated with new decision of MES. .

On 5 August 2020, the HERAS+ team leader, Mr. Aqim Emurli and the office manager Ms. Donjeta Ibra met with the representatives of the Strategic Planning Office (SPO) that is located within the Government of Kosovo, namely, Mr. Vedat Sagonjeva, Director and Mr. Adnan Ahmeti Senior Strategic Planning Officer. During the meeting, the interlocutors discuss about the support that project HERAS+ could provide for the development of the Smart Specialization Strategy for Kosovo (S3) and the modalities how this support could be effectuated. It was agreed that according to international practice and experiences, HERAS+ will support the linkage of S3 towards higher education, science and research in close coordination with Ministry of Education and Science in order to maintain connectivity between the policy fields and development of the synergies on the ground. .