Jointly organized by the University of Pécs and Studyportals, the international forum “Western Balkans Forum on Higher Education and Innovation” will be held in Pécs on The “Western Balkans Forum on Higher Education and Innovation” will be held in Pécs on October 8–9, 2026. The forum will focus on the future of higher education in the Western Balkans, European integration, innovation, internationalization, and cross-border university cooperation.
The theme of the forum’s first day is “The Future of Higher Education in the Western Balkans: Integration, Innovation, and Internationalization,” which will focus on issues of strategic thinking and regional cooperation. The opening address will be delivered by Prof. Jo Ritzen, former Minister of Education and Science of the Netherlands, former Vice President of the World Bank, and former President of Maastricht University, on the role of higher education in regional integration.
One of the program’s highlight events is the ministerial panel discussion titled “From Aspiration to Accession: What Role Does Higher Education Play in EU Integration?” Participants in the panel include, among others, Katalin Kurucz, Deputy State Secretary for European Union and International Affairs at the Hungarian Ministry of Education and Child Protection; Prof. Jasna Durakovic, Minister of Education and Science of Bosnia and Herzegovina; Hajrulla Çeku, Minister of Education of Kosovo; and Prof. Jo Ritzen.
Further panel discussions and workshops at the forum will focus on the changing landscape of international higher education, institutional preparations for EU accession, the development of competitive educational programs, access to Horizon Europe and other EU research framework programs, and the international competitiveness of regional universities.
Another key element of the event is examining collaboration between universities and the business sector. The program will feature representatives from companies such as Glovo, Huawei, the KONČAR Group, the MVM Group, and Podravka, while on the second day, topics such as quality assurance and corporate governance, university-industry collaboration, as well as support for international students and student employability.
One of the central questions on the second day of the forum is how strategic dialogues can be transformed into concrete tools, networks, and partnerships.
In conjunction with the conference, a separate international viticulture and winemaking program titled “A Day of Indigenous Grape Varieties” will also take place, focusing on the role of indigenous Balkan and Pannonian grape varieties, as well as new-generation varieties, in the European wine market. As part of the program, participants will visit the University of Pécs’s Research Institute of Viticulture and Oenology and the University of Pécs’s vineyard.
Date: October 8–9, 2026
Location: Kodály Center, University of Pécs
Detailed program: https://konferencia.pte.hu/en/westernbalkansforum2026
Source: Press release from the University of Pécs
