WBAA Board meeting and hybrid General Assembly took place in Pristina 2-3 April 2022
There was a lot going on at the WBAA last weekend that we would like to inform you about.
Board Meeting 2 April
On Saturday 2 April, the Board met in Pristina for a Board meeting. First, the National Representatives presented the news and activities from the National Chapters and the Service Provider gave an update on current issues. Then topics were discussed that are coming up in the next months, such as the election of four new Board members in May (members from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo* and North Macedonia get ready, more information will follow soon), a thematic publication about the first four years of WBAA and following meetings. In addition, the final preparations were made for the General Assembly the next day.
Dinner with the board memebrs and the guests
In the evening, other WBAA members and representatives from the Kosovo Erasmus+ Office, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, the University of Pristina and EMA joined for a dinner. After Corona's lack of networking opportunities over the last two years, it was good to have the possibility to exchange ideas, even if the number of participants was still limited.
General Assembly 3 April
Finally, on Sunday 3 April, the hybrid General Assembly took place, with 26 members participating on site and around 22 virtually. After a welcome from Chair Njomza Sallauka and Debuty Chair Albana Veseli, Hélène Benegas from EACEA presented the EU funding and the European Year of Youth.
Board member Klaudjo Kavaja then presented the 8 Board members that have been elected since the last General Assembly. You can find out who the current National Representatives are for your chapter here. This was followed by a session on the new WBAA Teams and introduction of the team leaders, led by Board member Mila Lukić. You can find more information in the presentation:
WBAA Teams (PDF)
Klaudjo then presented the newly established body Advisory Council, which consists of former Board members. Two members of the Advisory Council were present, Sanja Maksimova and Arber Hajrizaj, who explained how former Board members support the current Board.
Board member Milan Stojanović then presented the report on the last WBAA year since the General Assembly in March 2021 and Mila followed up with a report on what is planned for the network over the next year. You can find the presentations here:
Overview of the activities 2021-22 (PDF)
Annual Work Plan WBAA in 2022-23 (PDF)
An important point at a GA is always the presentation of the revised WBAA Statutes and Internal Rules and Regulations, which this year was taken over by Mila. Her presentation on the most important changes can be found through the following link:
WBAA Statutes and Internal Rules and Regulations (PDF)
These are the new documents that have been in force since 3 April:
After the lunch break, the moderator Dr. Iris Schneider welcomed back the online participants with a little game and then Board member Kristina Nikolova facilitated a game about funny Erasmus experiences. After this ice-breaker, Board member Adnan Rahimić presented WBAA and the new organigram and showed what opportunities there are for the 904 members to actively participate in WBAA. He highlighted the WBAA Projects, the networking opportunities in the Online Community and the upcoming elections for four new Board members. You can see the respective presentation here.
Board member Andrija Tomić then provided an interactive conclusion. In a brainstorming session, the virtual and on-site participants were able to gather ideas on how to activate the existing members and win new members for WBAA. You can see the ideas here:
And in a quiz about WBAA, the members could prove their knowledge about the network, the bodies and the history:
Njomza and Albana then concluded the meeting in a final session in which they thanked everyone involved.
In parallel, an exchange with representatives of ASAF, OCEANS, EMA and the European Students Union took place in the afternoon, where the networks were able to discuss synergies and future collaborations with WBAA. Also in parallel, the whole weekend was diligently filmed, photos were taken and interviews were conducted, which you will soon be able to see in a short film. After the official end, Njomza spontaneously offered a tour of the city for all those who wanted to, which provided further opportunities to get to know each other and Pristina.
Overall, it was a very successful meeting and we would like to thank again all those who contributed to the organisation and design of the General Assembly, especially Njomza and Albana and the rest of the Board.
Your WBAA Team
Cologne, Germany
08.04.2022
*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.