This factsheet which is part of a report by the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) entitled “The Unpaid Health Bill – How coal power plants in the Western Balkans make us sick” provides an assessment of the health impacts and costs associated with air pollution from coal and lignite combustion at existing power stations in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It also estimates the costs for planned plants.

This country report analyses higher education (HE) provision and labour market opportunities in Bosnia and Herzegovina by looking into four inter-related issues: the provision of HE, current labour market conditions for graduates, the challenges graduates face during the transition from HE to employment, and the type of skill gaps and skill mismatches that employers face when recruiting young graduates. The report concludes with recommendations on measures needed to ensure the right mix of skilled graduates to support robust economic growth in the future, support graduate job search, and encourage employers to create more graduate jobs and take on more skilled graduates. The data used in the study was collected from March to August 2015. It includes two large-scale surveys: one among recent HE graduates (graduate survey - 774 respondents) and one among organisations that employ HE graduates (employer survey - 153 respondents). Interviews were carried out with management staff of higher education institutions (HEIs), ministries, employers’ associations, and trade unions. A focus group was also carried with Erasmus Mundus alumni. The project has also assembled a unique database that includes details of most study programmes offered by HEIs in recent years.

Croatia held parliamentary elections on 8 November, with the two mainstream coalitions, headed by the centre-left SDP and centre-right HDZ, ending in a virtual dead heat. The HDZ’s Patriotic coalition secured 59 seats, including 3 seats representing the Croatian diaspora, while the SDP’s Croatia Grows coalition reached 56, while also being able to count on 3 seats pledged to them by a regional party, IDS. The elections also saw the rise of a strong third contender, Most Nezavisnih Lista (Bridge of Independent Lists), who secured 19 seats and could act as potential kingmakers in coalition negotiations. We asked five experts for their reactions to the result and their views on what might happen next. Kresimir Macan: Over the next week, the HDZ will try everything to win over Most’s candidates one by one Will Bartlett: Croatia’s economy needs a radical change if it wants to avoid six more years of stagnation Senada Selo Sabic: Counter-intuitively, the refugee crisis did not benefit the centre-right coalition Nina Brankovic: If the right-wing coalition prevails, calls for a third entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina will intensify Nikola Mihajlovic: Croats in Serbia are not represented in the Sabor

The study analyses admission systems to higher education across ten countries, covering some countries of the European Union (France, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Sweden and the United Kingdom), a candidate country (Turkey) as well as commonly used international comparators (Australia, Japan and the US). These countries are compared on three axes: the equity of admissions, their quality and their ability to encourage students’ mobility. On this basis, recommendations are provided with regard to admission to higher education in Europe.

In the knowledge economy the role of the university is supposed to be significant. Universities are the object of public and private investment and therefore, the society has placed great expectations upon them (Kerr 1983). Universities are required to perform multiple roles: educate a more diverse student population, improve rates of graduation, internationalize their activities, respond according to the needs of the market, be involved in basic and applied research, and more importantly, contribute to the national and regional economic competiveness and growth. Universities are critical components of national and regional work-force-development and innovation systems. The role of the universities in their regional development is very important and reflects universities’ ‘third mission’ (see particular Pineheiro, 2012). Universities’ legitimacy to society is gradually assessed by the level and quality of a university’s commitment to its various stakeholders (Jongbloed et al. 2007). Benneworth and Arbo (2006) noted that stakeholders’ demands could possibly drive universities to create new approaches to governance and strongly influence social responsibility, professional management and a makeover of the higher education institutional business model. Improving collaboration between stakeholders and universities continues to receive considerable attention and therefore is enthusiastically encouraged by the European Union, especially for research universities (EC 2007). In this chapter, the regional links of universities in the Western Balkan region is investigated by looking more deeply into the characteristics and challenges of three specific countries in the region – Bosnia- Hercegovina, Croatia and Serbia. In particular, the chapter explores to what extent regionalization efforts can be regarded as coherent from a systems perspective. By looking into recent government initiatives, institutional missions and organizational routines, but also specific practices and concrete activities aimed at improving regional links, the chapter points to possible shortcomings in current policies and practices. Due to limitations with regards to space and capacity, three specific countries are in focus of this chapter. The selection of Bosnia-Hercegovina (BiH), Croatia, and Serbia was made due to the fact that these are key countries in the Western Balkans, while also showing some of the diversity found within the region. Hence, we argue that the characteristics and challenges identified in this chapter migt have relevance also beyond the specific countries in question.

The series “Overview of Higher Education and Research Systems in the Western Balkans” includes seven reports on the higher education and research systems in the region – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, FYR Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia. Each of the reports represents a comprehensive overview of the higher education and research systems in the region, covering topics such as policy, governance arrangements, funding, institutional landscape, and quality, while focusing on the major reforms and trends in the recent years.