The students of MA in Peace, Security and Development participated in the Joint Project seminar from May 26 to May 28 in Bajina Bašta. Joint Project is a mandatory course in the MA in Peace, Security and Development. Throughout the course, students are being taught how to navigate through the project cycle with a special focus on identifying a policy problem and designing a project that is meant to alleviate it. Throughout the course, the students are divided into groups and are meant to design a project and, if possible, receive funds from donors for the implementation of the project. In this process, student groups are being mentored not only by the academic staff of the Faculty of Political Sciences, but also by experienced experts in project management from the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO) and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Successful project proposals will be funded by the OSCE and RYCO for further project implementation.
During the three-day seminar in Bajina Bašta, the students have been taught how to write a project proposal, with a special focus on risk management, sustainability, project visibility, resource planning and budgeting. The seminar was meant not only to teach students but also to equip the participants with proposal writing skills. As such, during the three days of the seminar, the students were tasked with implementing these key elements into their project proposal. The students have also taken part in the project implementation “Bricksprint” exercise that has simulated project implementation through a LEGO game. Bricksprint has been facilitated by the Centre for International Security’s Head, Professor Filip Ejdus. This exercise has had a special focus on risk management through introducing special risks in building a LEGO set, that was simulating personnel, resource, and funding shortages, as well as last-minute requests by donors.
The Joint Project seminar was very positively received by the participants. The students have described the seminar as a unique learning experience in project proposal writing, with a strong belief that the acquired skills will be of great use in their future careers. Going further, the students will submit their project proposals to the evaluators from the OSCE and RYCO, where the winning project(s) will receive funding for future implementation.
