25. 7. 2019 | ENTRi, IECEU, LET4CAP, POTC, PR
Slovenia is now opening the Centre for Education and Training for Participation in Peacekeeping Operations and Missions at Centre for European Perspective (CEP)
Click here to read more about the project in Slovenian language. 
Centre for education and training for participation in peacekeeping operations and missions will be implementing certified trainings and education for soldiers, police officers, civilian personnel of the ministries and other civilian experts that can be deployed to peacekeeping operations and missions within the UN, EU, NATO and OSCE. Skills and knowledge that experts at the peacekeeping operations and missions need, are very specific and diverse and are closely linked to the needs of the international institutions and their cooperation. These most commonly refer to the work and life in a multicultural environment, protection of human rights, cooperation with local personnel, training of trainer’s skills, as well as techniques and skills for work in a hostile environment.
Centre for European Perspective (CEP) has been for over a decade actively involved in European projects that aim at improving the competences of Slovene and foreign experts, who are deployed to peacekeeping operations and missions of the UN, EU, NATO and OSCE. Through our projects we are enabling access to diverse trainings for Slovene experts in Slovenia, we are sharing expertise of our experts with rich international experiences and continue to learn from the best European partners. CEP has been currently working on three projects: ENTRi – Europe’s New Training Initiative for Civilian Crisis Management , LET4Cap – Law Enforcement Training for Capacity Building and EUPCST – European Union Police and Civilian Services Training, that are striving to align trainings among participating countries, or better said, training institutions across Europe. CEP has also gained valuable experiences though the research project that was financed through the Horizon 2020, IECEU – Improving the Effectiveness of Capabilities in EU Conflict Prevention.
Organization and implementation of trainings for participation in peacekeeping operations and missions would not be possible without the support and cooperation of the ministries of interior, foreign affairs and defense. All these years, the cooperation and coordination were done informally. As activities have largely increased, an inter-ministerial analysis in close cooperation with Ministry of defense, Ministry of interior and Ministry of foreign affairs about potential synergies in the field of training, proved – also due to the membership of Slovenia in UN, EU and NATO – that an inter-ministerial cooperation with CEP should be formalized. This was the basis for the establishment of the Centre for education and training for participation in peacekeeping operations and missions that will be operating within CEP.
11. 7. 2019 | LET4CAP, PR
The LET4CAP training that took place at Castle Jable (Slovenia) in this week has finished successfully. The event was organized by the Centre for European Perspective and is the first of three sessions that have been dedicated towards solidifying the development of a common law enforcement capacity building culture.
The second day of the Law Enforcement Training for Capacity Building (LET4CAP) included the LEO’s in a discussion on training techniques and the application of these skills in a practical and personalized way. The morning session offered a theoretical overview of the different forms trainings can be organized with the use of demonstrative or scenario-based approaches and the application of simulations, World Cafès or Gallery Walks. The afternoon session that followed included group presentations, where participants took turns to explain their own envisaged training scenarios. The delivered presentations were later on evaluated by each individual participant along with the course mentor, so to provide mutual feedback and further improve their learning capabilities.
The third and final day of the LET4CAP training was dedicated to the topic of training environments management and the challenge of creating effective communication. The training was delivered by psychologist Karolina Ribacka of the Polish Policja. Her extensive experience in the field provided students with a more cognitive perspective on classroom conduct by explaining character traits that can help secure a positive training environment.
The session addressed the skills required for a proactive and attentive interaction between trainers and their potential audience. The lather is achieved through verbal and non-verbal modes of communication (mannerisms, facial expressions or gestures). The interactive activities trainees participated in, namely role-plays and buzz groups, aim at enhancing capabilities in terms of listening skills and learning to distinguish between more or less effective language, that can be used in the training room more generally. Developing sensible attitudes by trainers is also crucial for the strengthening of reciprocal expectations with trainees during international missions.
The knowledge and experience gained in the 3 day training was put to the test in the final part of the session in the form of a training exercise. Participants were divided into 4 teams and had to propose strategies for dealing with a situation of confrontation with other people (whether security related or character related), and diffusing the circumstances. An example of the group work was a presentation and role-play exercise that amplified the importance of color codes in routine (UN-Standardized) police control operations in the environment of UN-mandated international missions. Creating effective team building was also crucial for the success of this exercise.
The 3-day training course concluded with a final ceremony. Participants of the training were awarded diplomas of participation by H.E. Ambassador of Italy Paolo Trichilo.
The course is part of a framework of the Internal Security Fund of the European Union, where the Italian Carabinieri are leading a training initiative called “Law Enforcement Training for Capacity Building project” – LET4CAP”. Members of the consortium are: the Centre for European Perspective (CEP), founded by the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies of Pisa, the Polish police force “Policja” and the in-house agency of the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance “Studiare Sviluppo”. The overall objective of the project is to contribute to a more consistent and efficient assistance in law enforcement capacity building towards third countries, which will be achieved through the harmonization of a training package for Law Enforcement Organisations and with the development of a common, law enforcement capacity building culture.
8. 7. 2019 | LET4CAP, PR
19 Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs) coming from 11 different countries began their LET4CAP training at Castle Jable today. The event is organized by the Centre for European Perspective and is the first of three sessions that have been dedicated towards solidifying the development of a common law enforcement capacity building culture.
The first day started with an ice breaker session where participants introduced themselves and shared their personal/professional backgrounds. The participants involved have varying degrees of experience in the field of training, some with over 20 years of know-how and some with basic experience. In addition, the trainees come from different fields such as the: civil administrative sector, military, police, civilian police, criminal investigation (forensics); creating an interesting learning dynamic.
The second part of the session was dedicated towards familiarizing participants with teaching and learning theories as well as tools and techniques needed to become a ‘good’ trainer. The topic was introduced with a lecture delivered by Annalisa Creta, Professor of the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, that discussed how the sharing of knowledge involves good andragogy, deriving above all from listening skills and cultural awareness. Thus, being an effective trainer requires creating a common ground with the trainee in order to level seniority (breaking boundaries) and establish oneself as a resource.
The trainers were introduced to the training cycle approach, that involves the:
- Identification of Needs
- Planning and Design Phase
- Delivery/facilitation
- Assessment
- Evaluation
A learner-centered approach remains the key to all these steps, as it sees the trainee not as a unilateral element towards which information is to be communicated but rather as an element of conversation and interaction through which easier connection, assessment (reactivity of inputted knowledge) and evaluation (upgrading of knowledge and skills) can be made by the trainer. In this light, the first activity involved a Social Experimental Learning experiment where participants were asked to share their skills, first in groups and then collectively.
The importance of the physical environment (in terms of comfort and security) also should not be disregarded. The large conference room with a warm décor and “cafè styled” organization of seats created an overall relaxed and enjoyable environment as to make interaction and approachability towards participants more feasible and fruitful. This was also a useful demonstration of how creating adequate environments for knowledge transfer during trainings is important.
The course is part of a framework of the Internal Security Fund of the European Union, where the Italian Carabinieri are leading a training initiative called “Law Enforcement Training for Capacity Building project” – LET4CAP”. Members of the consortium are: the Centre for European Perspective (CEP), founded by the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies of Pisa, the Polish police force “Policja” and the in-house agency of the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance “Studiare Sviluppo”. The overall objective of the project is to contribute to a more consistent and efficient assistance in law enforcement capacity building towards third countries, which will be achieved through the harmonization of a training package for Law Enforcement Organisations and with the development of a common, law enforcement capacity building culture.
2. 7. 2019 | Albania - Election, PR, Slovenian Development Assistance
Click here to read more about the project in Slovenian language.
Within the framework of the international development project “Strengthening the transparency of the electoral bodies – exchange of experiences between Slovenia and Albania 2019-20”, the activity of monitoring of the integration of good practices in the conduct of local elections in Albania was carried out on Sunday, 30 June 2019, the day of local elections in Albania.
In cooperation with local partners, CEP experts were monitoring the implementation of the observation of domestic election observers and Albanian NGOs involved in the project, based on recommendations developed within the March workshop. Moreover, CEP experts conducted interviews with participating NGO’s in the project.
The project is financed from the funds for international development cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia.
27. 6. 2019 | PR, U-LEAD: with Europe
The Centre for European Perspective has again hosted the U-LEAD with Europe International Study Visit of Ukrainian Local officials in Slovenia. The event begun on Monday, 23rd of June at Jable Castle and ended on the 27th of June with a closing ceremony in Maribor.
The main topic of the visit was “Improving Institutional Capacity Development Measures of Ukrainian Local-self-government (LSG) Associations”, which is an important step towards ensuring a quick and successful decentralization process in Ukraine.
There were 15 local officials from Ukraine, who took part in the study visit, coming from different spheres – from Project coordinators, Advisors on regional development, Experts of strategic planning from Ministry of Regional Development, Construction and Communal Services, Heads of amalgamated hromadas to the Head of regional development centre from Chernivtsi region.
The first day started by welcome speeches from the CEP Executive Director Katja Geršak and CEP Administrative Director Andrej Vrčon, followed Andreja Purkart Martinez, Head of Sector, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Slovenia, who gave an insight into general work Ministry does with Ukraine and the region. The participants were also greeted by Andrii Borodenkov, from the Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Slovenia, who introduced the participants to Slovenia, spoke about doing business here and the topics the Embassy handles in general. Later on, Meliha Muherina, Project Manager at CEP, followed the introductory remarks with an overview of the agenda for the following days.
The first lecture of the day was given by Mr. Robert Drobnič, discussing the topic of Regional Development Planning. He focused on planning of regional development, implementation of national programs and implementation of EU programs. The second lecture was given by Dr. Roman Lavtar, who focused on the system of local self-government in Slovenia. The third and last lecture of the day was given by Dr. Vladimir Prebilič, representative of the Association of Municipalities of Slovenia (ZOS – Združenje občin Slovenije) and Mayor of Kočevje, who gave an insightful lecture on the financing of municipalities, project management in municipalities, the work of ZOS and the important role of ZOS in relation between the state and municipalities.
In the following days, the participants met the Deputy Mayor of Bled, Mr Jaka Bassanese, who spoke about the municipality, the development of tourism in Bled and the projects the municipality is currently undertaking. In Bohinj, they learned more about the development of mountainous regions and the strategy of development of culture in municipality.
On Wednesday, the participants met Mr Matej Ogrin from CIPRA Slovenija, who presented the work of CIPRA and Alpine Convention. The main goal of the organization is protection of the Alps at national government level and working bottom-up by supporting towns, villages and civil society initiatives in their efforts to realise the objectives of sustainable development of the Alpine region. Later, they visited the municipality of Podčetrtek, where they met with Mr Bostjan Misja, the director of Visit Podčetrtek, who talked about the successful development of Podčetrtek from a rural municipality into a municipality, known for its biggest wellness centre in Slovenia – Terme Olimia.
On Thursday, the participants met Ms Saša Kek, a representative of Association of Municipalities and Towns of Slovenia (SOS – Skupnost občin Slovenije), who spoke about the work of SOS, their national and international activities and issues they are facing, which sparked a lively debate amongst the participants. The day ended with the closing ceremony in Maribor.
The U-LEAD with Europe study visits are taking place in the framework of the multi-donor action U-LEAD established by the European Union and its Member States Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Poland and Sweden. They aim at contributing to the establishment of multilevel governance that is transparent, accountable and responsive to the needs of the population of Ukraine. U-LEAD with Europe is supporting the Ukrainian Government, represented by the Ministry of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine (MinRegion) as a key political partner in the coordination and implementation of the decentralization and regional policy reforms. The Program carries out demand-driven and targeted trainings for officials at the national, regional and local level.
27. 6. 2019 | Albania - Election, PR, Slovenian Development Assistance
Click here to read more about the project in Slovenian language.
Within the framework of the international development project “Strengthening the transparency of the electoral bodies – exchange of experiences between Slovenia and Albania 2019-20”, the activity of monitoring of the integration of good practices in the conduct of local elections in Albania will be carried out on Sunday, 30 June 2019, the day of local elections in Albania.
CEP experts will, in cooperation with local partners, monitor the implementation of the observation of domestic election observers and Albanian NGOs involved in the project, based on recommendations developed within the March workshop.
The project is financed from the funds for international development cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia.
