The Institute for Democracy and Mediation (IDM), in joint cooperation with the Kosovar Center for Security Studies (KCSS) and the Belgrade Center for Security Policy (BCSP), organized a trilateral Summer School on Security Policy in Ulcinj, Montenegro from 12 to 16 May 2014.
The Summer School brought together 18 young scholars, field experts, practitioners and young graduates interested in security issues. Each partner country – Serbia, Kosovo and Albania – was represented by 6 young professionals, selected through an opened call for application at national level.
This initiative falls under the three-year long project Security Research Forum ‘Belgrade-Prishtina-Tirana’, financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway.
This Research Forum aims to enhance the understanding of mutual security issues by establishing various links among security policy communities in the partner countries as well as to increase transparency in security governance.
The main objectives of the Summer School concerned the strengthening of the civilian capacities for engagement with security policy along with the engagement in joint exploration of security gaps and democracy deficits maintained by frozen conflicts.
The Summer School was composed primarily of workshops, practical exercises, scenario planning and expert panels, as means of strengthening mutual understanding, socialization and joint teamwork between the participants coming from different backgrounds.
In this context, the main topics covered during the 5-day training were:
- Definition of the concept of security
- Analysis of security sector reform
- Role of media in security sector reform
- Police integration in North Kosovo
- Regional security cooperation
Moreover, the issue of efficient managing of multi-ethnic cities was accompanied by a study visit to the office of the Mayor of Ulcinj Municipality and to the Police Department of Ulcinj.
Overall, the Summer School managed to achieve its final purpose of fostering common understanding of upcoming developments in the security field and the necessity of elaborating prospective unconventional solutions on the ‘normalization’ of the relations in the region.