EURO-IN

Since 2009 the Association of Development and Regional Cooperation "OLZA" and the EuroSchola Institute, together with numerous partner organizations, have been carrying out actions aiming to create the first EuroInstitute in Central and Eastern Europe. The idea to create such an organisation came from the Franco-German border region, where the Institute for cross-border cooperation (Euro-Institute) was created in the city of Kehl (Baden-Württemberg). This institute is a model example of a European organisation, which is a bicultural Franco-German body specialising in continuing education and training, with a binational and bilingual team.

In 2015 we completed the joint partnership project entitled ”EURO-IN” which constituted one of the necessary stages to create an international centre for cross-border education – the Polish-Czech-Slovak EuroInstitute. Three types of actions, all in line with the Institute's future activity, were carried out as part of the project, i.e. analysis and expertise, training and consulting, along with information and promotion.

Analysis and expertise were focused on identifying the obstacles and needs in the area of cross-border cooperation, as well as preparing documents on the scope for joint actions performed with the entities forming the EuroInstitute.

Training and consulting consisted of a series of pilot cross-border training sessions, meetings and forums. The training sessions were prepared on the basis of the results of prior analysis of obstacles and needs in the area of cross-border cooperation. An innovative approach to training sessions was adopted by presenting their topics from a cross-border perspective (Polish, Czech and Slovak). The goal of the meetings was to intensify cooperation between the institutions forming the EuroInstitute partnership. In order to achieve this goal the needs related to cross-border issues of the Polish, Czech and Slovak border region were identified and a common framework of actions was established. Cross-border forums provided an opportunity to exchange good practices and to promote cross-border issues and their importance from the perspective  of the region's development.

The third group of actions was aimed at promoting the project and the future activity of the Polish-Czech-Slovak EuroInstitute. This was achieved through a dedicated website, information brochures, promotional campaigns, roller banners, conception of visual identity, and an international conference held in Katowice.

Thanks to our simultaneous interpretation equipment, purchased in the course of the project, these actions were carried out with top organisational standards.

In 2015 project was accomplished.