This project is developed by a consortium of Dutch universities and institutes aiming to contribute to the improvement of the environmental situation in the Western Balkan region by environmental cooperation and capacity building.

The main focus of the program is to develop a network of universities in the region, to contribute to environmental capacity building at these universities and strengthen the cooperation between Western Balkan and Dutch universities.

The program has been developed as part of the current Regional Program on Environment Western Balkan of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Belgrade.

To implement the program all activities were clustered in groups, so-called activity clusters. The clusters Environmental Education and Research and Capacity Building aim at support for the Western Balkan universities in the field of education, research and future staff.

Another cluster, Environmental monitoring, specifically focus on enhancing knowledge and expertise of students and young researchers in the field of environmental monitoring and assessment. The cluster Regional Networking aims to bring the research results to local stakeholders and policy makers and work jointly on solutions.

The activities in the clusters consist of:

• Workshops for (young) scientists and policy makers to take place in the Western Balkan.
• 18 MSc fellowships to be divided over the 6 Western Balkan Universities involved.
• Training for university and government staff, consisting of several short and long term courses which can be followed in the Netherlands or on-line.
• Fieldwork at a contaminated site in the Western Balkan region as a case study how to monitor and assess pollution stress.
• Closing Symposium at the end of the project to dissiminate the outcome of the project.

With participation of Western Balkans project partners, the Dutch partners and some of the WB students and staff working at UNESCO-IHE, official kick-off meeting of the NEWEN project took place on Thursday 13 November 2008 at the premises of UNESCO-IHE in Delft.

MSc studies:

Scholarships (18 in total) are awarded to three students from each participating Western Balkan University to study at one of the three Universities/institutions in the Netherlands.

Research Methodology in a multi-disciplinary setting, March 30- April 6, 2009, Wageningen:

Young researchers and lecturers from six Universities in the Western Balkans have shared their ideas on conducting and designing research projects, during the first NEWEN training course: "Research Methodology in a multi-disciplinary setting"

Modernization of Environmental Science Education, 13-20 May, 2009, Wageningen:

Workshop will inform professionals, university staff and young scientist from the Western Balkan countries on the principles and evolution of environmental education and introduce contemporary approaches for developing and presenting high level environmental education programs.

Urban Solid Waste Management in the Western Balkans, 11-12 June, 2009, Durres, Albania:

Workshop will inform participants, professionals and university staff from the Western Balkans, to the current EU environmental strategies concerning solid waste together with contemporary approaches in planning and implementation of plans in urban solid waste management.