Comments to reports and information about progress to EACEA recommendations Project: Network for education and training for public environmental laboratories – NETREL, TEMPUS: TEMPUS SK- JPHES THE THIRD QUALITY CONTROL MEETING University of Portsmouth Portsmouth United Kingdom 13th – 15th October 2015

… Recommendations - European Commission, Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA)

1. To publish needs assessment as a stand-alone document with participation of relevant Ministries and interested laboratories and to link the scope and topics of the remaining training courses to this document The survey on laboratory needs was conducted from September – November 2014 by Project coordinator Dr. Ivan Spanik. During this period all laboratories that participate in NETREL project were visited and Dr. Spanik met the responsible laboratory representatives. In opened discussion, the needs and requests of laboratories were clarified and in coordinated effort tailor made training courses were proposed and agreed at the 2nd Quality Control meeting in Brno (December 2014). Project: Network for education and training for public environmental laboratories – NETREL, TEMPUS: TEMPUS SK-JPHES

2. To produce publication with frequently asked questions in order to help laboratories in further work The publication on FAQ is a useful document, but it is also a complex and extensive issue. Large number of topics were addressed during the training courses and shortlisting them to a few topics mentioned in FAQ will not contribute to better understanding of the problems. NETREL management board will discuss this recommendation and further discuss it with laboratories, if this document can be of any help to them. Instead of FAQ, it would be more useful if more staff from laboratories could gain theoretical and practical experience during the training courses organized during NETREL project and after its finalization. What we find more practical as well is preparation of document listing the recommended literature that would address all aspects of environmental monitoring. Project: Network for education and training for public environmental laboratories – NETREL, TEMPUS: TEMPUS SK-JPHES

3. To assist the laboratories in introducing the new methods in their regular procedures and daily work During the courses of the NETREL project we have established numerous connections with the staff of laboratories from Serbia and B&H. We have made it clear to laboratories that academic staff of UB, UNS, US and UBL, as well as STU, MU and UoP, are available for assistance and help in any issues regarding the topics of NETREL training courses. The good cooperation with laboratory staff resulted in fellowship offer to participate at Summer school, organized by MU in Brno. All participating labs have expressed their will to implement new methods and procedures and update existing with the help of academic participants of the NETREL project. Unfortunately, many labs have technical and instrumental restrictions. Therefore, before introducing new methods, some financial expenses are required for purchase of necessary equipment and consumables. Project: Network for education and training for public environmental laboratories – NETREL, TEMPUS: TEMPUS SK-JPHES

4. To make an effort to involve decision makers sooner and, in order to secure sustainability of project activities and address overall financial sustainability prospects of the project, as soon as possible The involvement of policy makers and the issue of project sustainability after its finalization is of crucial importance to NETREL partners. As one of the most important activities, open discussion with policy makers is planned for the end of Within this activity, following steps have already been conducted: Project: Network for education and training for public environmental laboratories – NETREL, TEMPUS: TEMPUS SK-JPHES

4. To make an effort to involve decision makers sooner and in order to secure sustainability of project activities and address overall financial sustainability prospects of the project as soon as possible a) Relevant participants have been selected: 1) Provincial Secretariat for Urban Planning, Construction and Environmental Protection of Vojvodina 2) Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection of Republic of Serbia 3) City Administration for Environmental Protection (Novi Sad, Subotica, Belgrade, Kragujevac, Užice, Kruševac, Kraljevo, Niš) 4) City Institute of Public Health Belgrade Project: Network for education and training for public environmental laboratories – NETREL, TEMPUS: TEMPUS SK-JPHES

4. To make an effort to involve decision makers sooner and in order to secure sustainability of project activities and address overall financial sustainability prospects of the project as soon as possible 5) Public Water Management Company „Vode Vojvodine“, Novi Sad 6) Jaroslav Černi Institute for the Development of Water Resources, Belgrade 7) Urban Planning Institute, Novi Sad 8) Institute for Nature Conservation of Vojvodina Province 9) Relevant experts from the Faculty of Technical Sciences, Faculty of Technology, Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Science and Technical faculty (University of Novi Sad) and Faculty of Occupational Safety (University of Niš) Project: Network for education and training for public environmental laboratories – NETREL, TEMPUS: TEMPUS SK-JPHES

4. To make an effort to involve decision makers sooner and in order to secure sustainability of project activities and address overall financial sustainability prospects of the project as soon as possible b) Invitations have been sent on October 7 th to selected institutions. The meeting will take place in Novi Sad (December 18 th ). Project: Network for education and training for public environmental laboratories – NETREL, TEMPUS: TEMPUS SK-JPHES

Invitation letter

4. To make an effort to involve decision makers sooner and in order to secure sustainability of project activities and address overall financial sustainability prospects of the project as soon as possible Continuation of training courses, which will constantly be updated, is very important future plan for the NETREL partners. During the QA/QC training course in Novi Sad, opened discussion between laboratory participants and academic partners was initiated in order to explore the needs and interest of laboratories for further cooperation in training courses, including preparation of novel courses in future. Project: Network for education and training for public environmental laboratories – NETREL, TEMPUS: TEMPUS SK-JPHES

5. To establish cooperation with the university centers for Lifelong Learning and to see whether the course provision can be organized with their administrative and PR support Within TEMPUS INTERFACE project that ended in 2014, Center for LLL was established at the University of Novi Sad. NETREL Management board will initiate procedure for inclusion of Training courses created during NETREL project in the LLL Center course offer. Project: Network for education and training for public environmental laboratories – NETREL, TEMPUS: TEMPUS SK-JPHES

6. To widen dissemination target to laboratories outside of Belgrade and Novi Sad in order to gain national coverage and to include them into calls for further trainings; to analyse if there are possibilities to cover travel costs for non-academic participants coming from outside of Belgrade and Novi Sad After detailed financial analysis and considering the fact that the initial NETREL budget was cut by 10%, it was determined that there are no funds from NETREL budget that can be allocated for this purpose. As we understand, according to TEMPUS rules, it is not allowed to cover travel expenses for people who are not part of Project consortium. Project: Network for education and training for public environmental laboratories – NETREL, TEMPUS: TEMPUS SK-JPHES

6. To widen dissemination target to laboratories outside of Belgrade and Novi Sad in order to gain national coverage and to include them into calls for further trainings; to analyse if there are possibilities to cover travel costs for non-academic participants coming from outside of Belgrade and Novi Sad In order to find additional financial sources to cover costs of travel and accommodation for the participants that are not directly include in NETREL, Regional management board has sent the Request for financial support for this purpose to following institutions (July 24 th ): 1) Provincial Secretariat for Science and Technological Development of Vojvodina 2) Provincial Secretariat for Urban Planning, Construction and Environmental Protection of Vojvodina Project: Network for education and training for public environmental laboratories – NETREL, TEMPUS: TEMPUS SK-JPHES

6. To widen dissemination target to laboratories outside of Belgrade and Novi Sad in order to gain national coverage and to include them into calls for further trainings; to analyse if there are possibilities to cover travel costs for non-academic participants coming from outside of Belgrade and Novi Sad 3) Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of Republic of Serbia 4) Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection of Republic of Serbia Project: Network for education and training for public environmental laboratories – NETREL, TEMPUS: TEMPUS SK-JPHES

Text of request

6. To widen dissemination target to laboratories outside of Belgrade and Novi Sad in order to gain national coverage and to include them into calls for further trainings; to analyse if there are possibilities to cover travel costs for non-academic participants coming from outside of Belgrade and Novi Sad So far, we haven’t received any feedback from above institutions. However, regardless of this fact, numerous labs from Serbia and the region, outside of Belgrade and Novi Sad, are invited, and many of them accept the invitations and cover all costs for their staff. Project: Network for education and training for public environmental laboratories – NETREL, TEMPUS: TEMPUS SK-JPHES

7. To improve the quality control of the project through organization of peer review or some other tools; the tools used for quality assurance should not be limited only to surveys even though they are useful Project activities, as well as training and learning course content, are discussed with external auditor of the NETREL project, Dr. Jaroslav Slobodnik. External auditor is in contact with the staff of public laboratories in Serbia, which are members of NETREL consortium. His reports will be presented during Quality control meeting. Project: Network for education and training for public environmental laboratories – NETREL, TEMPUS: TEMPUS SK-JPHES

8. To revise dissemination plan and to define which publications and/or other printed materials will be produced and in what quantity For each training course, each participant receives full set of training material. The quantity of publications depends on the number of registered participants. Prior to training course, Invitations are printed out and distributed via regular mail to all potential participants. Leaflets and brochures with detailed information about the NETREL project and offered training courses are printed as well in Serbia, Bosnian and English language. Printed NETREL materials will be distributed on various scientific conferences visited by members of NETREL consortium. Project: Network for education and training for public environmental laboratories – NETREL, TEMPUS: TEMPUS SK-JPHES