The Expert Roundtable in the frame of the “Innovation Lab” activity organized by the EU-funded “Curriculum Development – Joint MA Program in Political Science” (JoPScip) Project was organized by Eurasia International University from May 6-10.

The initial stage of the JoPScip project implementation includes the organization of “Innovation Labs” aiming to present the Project to the administration and academic communities of the Partner Universities, as well as to the interested stakeholders in public and private sectors to ensure practical relevance, feasibility, and positive support of the Project. The Expert Roundtable took place in the frame of “Innovation Labs”.

Having conducted the preliminary needs analysis and considering its strategic development priorities, EIU is considering the possibilities to design its modules of the Joint Program in Political Science with a specific thematic focus on political and interdisciplinary issues of Development Studies, including inter alia the methodology, contexts and practices of domestic reform processes, the politics of international development aid, and the practices of development cooperation between EaP countries and key international development actors. The “Strengthening the Capacities of International and Local Development Professionals: Towards More Effective Reform and International Cooperation Processes Through the New Joint Master Program in Political Science and Development Studies” Expert Roud table was initiated by EIU aiming to present the Project in the format of expert discussion and collect feedbacks from the international and local development actors in Armenia.

The Roundtable was opened by Dr. Ruben Markosyan, EIU Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs who presented the scope and agenda of the meeting. Following the opening remarks, Prof. Franz Kok from Paris-Lodron-Universität Salzburg (Austria) briefly introduced the JoPScip project and the general concept of the consortium-based Joint Master Program.

Dr. Anna Khvorostiankina, Head of the EIU Department of Law, Political Science and International Relations, presented the EIU’s strategic vision of the future Program. Addressing the need to have a new generation of global and local change-makers, the curriculum offer of EIU will combine the broader disciplinary field of Political Science, Public Administration, and International Relations with a specific thematic focus on Development. The students will understand how societies undergo changes and what is required to make them sustainable and resilient, focus on the methodology of decision-making and policy design with a specific accent on the practices of reform implementation, explore the politics and legal frameworks of international development cooperation and develop the skills of policy performance assessment.

The Program will be enriched with the practical component – a Policy-Making Laboratory where students, in cooperation with governmental stakeholders and civil society partners, will design policy proposals to address the current societal needs. A cornerstone of the program will be the strengthening of the international competencies of students. This will be achieved through the academic mobility experience in Partner universities, participation in international conferences and contests, as well as through the “internationalization at home” opportunities (international guest lecturing, international cohorts of learners, wide integration of international perspectives into all subjects of the program, etc.).

An ideal graduate of the program will possess solid knowledge in Political Science, International Relations and Public Administration, be equipped with the skills of policy design, implementation, and evaluation, as well as have a deep understanding of the dynamics of social change, tools and methodology of development initiatives, and international and local contexts that facilitate or hinder the implementation of reforms.

The presentation was followed by a lively discussion. We are grateful to our colleagues, partners and guest experts for the positive feedback, constructive and inspiring comments and conceptually framed questions. Follow us for further updates on the progress of the project.

The JoPScip project co-funded by the EU in the framework of the Erasmus+ program was launched in 2024. The primary objective of the JoPScip Project is to advance good governance, peace, security, and human development while promoting active citizenship. This will be achieved by implementing a modernized, internationalized, and digitized joint MA degree program in Political Science tailored for the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries. It is implemented by a Consortium of universities, including Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA, Georgia, Project Coordinator), Eurasia International University (EIU, Armenia), Yerevan State University (YSU, Armenia),  Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (TSU, Georgia), Paris-Lodron-Universität Salzburg (PLUS, Austria), Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje (North Macedonia).