The Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje (UKIM) is a public higher educational institution and the first state university in the Republic of Macedonia. Its activity is arranged by the Law on Higher Education and the Statute of the University. The Law on Higher Education has harmonized the entire structure of the University in 2008, with the legal provisions to become an integrated autonomous university. The Statute is the main act of the University that must be endorsed by its founder – the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia. In accordance with the Statute, the University units have Rulebooks that arrange their relations and operations.

UKIM is an autonomous institution that decides independently about its mission, strategy, structure, activities, management. It is managed by a Senate, chaired by the Rector (Prof. dr. Nikola Jankulovski) followed by the Rector’s Board. All decision-making processes involve the vice-rectors, deans / directors of units, the scientific and teaching councils / scientific councils of the units. The university has a centralized budget for better management and provision of quality, but the units have their respective sub-accounts which provide them with the necessary autonomy and responsibility to operate and develop activities for research and teaching. All activities of the University are in accordance with the current legal framework and acts of the Board for Accreditation and Evaluation of the Higher Education in the Republic of Macedonia, which prescribe that the university is responsible for quality of the teaching process and research as well as for ensuring academic freedom and transparency in decision-making regarding resource management.

Every year there are more than 10,000 students who are enrolled in all three cycles of the university, which makes UKIM the biggest university in the Republic of Macedonia in terms of student numbers.

The university has 23 faculties, 5 scientific institutes and 12 joining member institutions. Each faculty and scientific institute has organizational units structured on the basis of specific fields and areas on competency. In accordance with its vision text, UKIM strives to be a modern, dynamic, educational and research institution on the basis of the performances, competitiveness and quality, with an active and integrated local, regional and international anchorage, especially in the frames of the Single European Higher Education Area.

The RETOPEA project fits in with the university’s mission to recognize the traditional features and values of the Macedonian people (the Macedonian language, history, literature and culture) as well as to nurture the cultural values of the other ethnic communities in the Republic of Macedonia. The university is open to all students on the basis of equality and their academic results, regardless of their ideological, political, cultural and social origin. Lifelong learning is strongly and actively encouraged.

To completing this mission, UKIM has established international cooperation and joint educational programs, double and joint degrees, including research projects in the European programs and bilateral partnerships as well as exchange, mobility, organization of scientific and other academic events. UKIM is a member of the Academic networks: UNICA, ERA, CEEPUS, EUA, IAU, UNI-ADRION and other and has taken part in the Erasmus Mundus Networks: Basileus, Join EUSEE, Eraweb and Euroweb. At the moment UKIM is a partner in 52 scientific projects founded by: TEMPUS, FP7, UNESCO, NATO, IPA, HORISON 2020, ERASMUS and 14 bilateral projects.

RETOPEA will be carried out at the Faculty of Philosophy, which has 13 undergraduate programs and 18 graduate programs, and which is considered to be one of the most branched out members of the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje. Today, the Faculty of Philosophy has a developed international network of cooperation with approximately 40 foreign universities.

All research will be supervised by the UKIM UNESCO Chair in Intercultural Studies and Research, which was established in 2014 in order to improve intercultural dialogue and academic cooperation and research. The Chair is member of the UNiTWIN network of UNESCO Chairs on interreligious and intercultural dialogue. The Chair took activities towards strengthening of intercultural dialogue and cooperation, understanding and learning about diversity, conflict resolution through education at different levels. It is its personal mission to stimulate research on cultural diversity and society and to build a knowledge resource center and forum for dialogue, communication and cooperation among experts, professionals, youth and students, activists and leaders in Macedonia, elsewhere in Europe, North America and other regions of the world. The Chair creates a strong ability to explore and maintain relationships with national and international partners (University of Gothenburg, University of Dublin, UNiTWIN network, organizations and institutions for intercultural issues and education, national partner Universities). It has established close cooperation with and is supported by UNESCO National Commission within Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Science and Education.

Key personnel

Lidija Georgieva, Principal Investigator, Professor of Philosophy and Head of the UNESCO Chair in Intercultural Studies and Research, graduated and completed her PhD at Faculty of Philosophy in Skopje, titled Mechanisms for peace and security into the restructured collective security system. As a post-doctoral Fulbright scholar she was affiliated with University of Maryland (Washington DC) and Center for International Security Studies and Center for International Development and Conflict Management in 2000/2001. She is currently a professor at the Faculty of Philosophy in Skopje (since 1997) and Head of the UNESCO Chair in Intercultural Studies and Research (since 2014). As an expert in peace and security studies she was involved in developing studies and policy papers for UNDP, DPA and UNWOMEN on different issues related to interethnic dialogue and communication, peacebuilding, woman and security, peace and conflict resolution. Professor Georgieva’s research interests are ranging within the Peace and Security studies and research, Conflict prevention and Intercultural studies and research. She has been working for many years on different research projects related to conflict analysis, early warning, peacebuilding, intercultural education, disaster risk reduction, gender and security, peace education etc. Between 2010-2017 she was Study program director of the MA International Relations studies in Conflict resolution, Diplomacy and Human Rights as a part of the TEMPUS IV project (2009/2013). Between 2012-2017 she was Head of PhD Program in International Relations and Conflict Management.

Anica Dragovic, Professor of Methodology, Social Statistics and Demography, has graduated and completed her PhD at Faculty of Philosophy in Skopje. From the 2000 to 2003 she was on study at the Cairo Demographic Center (Egypt), where she completed her Master Philosphy in Demography. She is an expert in population studies and has been involved in developing studies and policy papers, as well as project development for USAID, UNDP, UNFPA on different issues related to population issues, creating methodology and process of monitoring and evaluation. Anica Dragovic is a Member of the Association of Sociologists of the Republic of Macedonia, and International Union for the Scientific Study in population (IUSSP). She is a team member of the UNESCO CHAIR. From 2012 she is a member of The Statistical Council of the Republic of Macedonia, which is an advisory and expert body to the state statistics. Between 2013-2017 she was vice dean for international cooperation at the faculty of Philosophy.

Zoran Matevski, Professor of Sociology, has graduated and completed his PhD at the Institute of Sociology, Faculty of Philosophy, UKIM in Skopje. He has been a professor at the Institute of Sociology under the Faculty of Philosophy in Skopje since 1998, where he is head of the Institute of Sociology since 2009. As an expert in sociology of religion, he has developed the MA program “Inter-Religious Studies” at the Faculty of Philosophy in Skopje and is one of the founders of the Institute of Family Studies. Zoran Matevski’s research interests are religious phenomena, inter-religious dialogue and tolerance, ethnic and religious identity, the role of religion in peace and conflict, religious fundamentalism, religious and ethnic reconciliation etc. He has worked on many research projects related to sociology of religion and sociology of education. As a professor and scientist in the field of sociology of religion he is the member of: the International Institute of Sociology, the International Sociological Association, the International Society for the Sociology of Religion, the European association of the Study of Religion, the International Study of Religion in Eastern and Central Europe Association, the European sociological association (ESA).

Relevant publications and/or other products and services

Lidija Georgieva (2017), ‘Peace Governance and Multiculturalism: What role for Peace Education in the Balkans’, European Journal of Social Sciences Education and Research, Vol 10 (2), 153-166.

Zoran Matevski (2015), ‘The Influence of Religious Fundamentalism on the Conflicts in the Post Communistic States in the Balkan Region’, Security Dialogues, Vol. 6 (2-1), pp.135-145.

Lidija Georgieva and Marina Mitrevska (2015), ‘Peace and Security: Is Conflict Prevention Still a Norm of Security Policy?’, International Scientific Conference Researching Security: Approaches, Concepts and Policies, Vol. 4, 124-137.

Lidija Georgieva, Zoran Velkovski and Lena Damovska (2014), ‘The Role of Higher Education in Fostering Inter-Cultural Dialogue and Understanding in a Multiethnic Society – The Case of the Republic of Macedonia’, International Journal of Education and Research, Vol. 2 (12), 125-136.

Lidija Georgieva (2005), Conflict prevention in Macedonia: from the Idea to Conflict Prevention as a Norm (Friedrih Ebert Stiftung).

Relevant previous projects or activities

2014-2016: Theory of International Relations and Conflict Resolution V4, International Visegrad Fond supported Project, PI: Lidija Georgieva.

2014-2016: The Role of Peace Education and Contact Hypothesis, Co-Supervisor Lidija Georgieva, University of Gothenburg project supported by Swedish Research Council.

2012-2016: Creating a local strategy for the middle education of the city of Skopje, approved by the sector of education of the city of Skopje, project directed by Zoran Matevski.

2011-2012: Enhancing dialogue and cooperation trough intercultural dialogue and research - UNESCO/Faculty of Philosophy Ss. Cyril and Methodius University Research Project.

Lidija Georgieva, UNDP consultant 2009/10 on the Project: Enhancing Interethnic dialogue and collaboration between ethnic communities in Macedonia; Spanish Trust Fund, UN.