The meeting of the consortium Interreg Danube Region "TransAC" project was held

On November 5 and 6, 2025, a meeting of the Interreg Danube Region consortium of the project "TransAC" (Establishing a Danube training academy as a measure against brain drain from rural and crisis regions) was held at the premises of the Zenica Development Agency ZEDA.
The host and main organizer of the meeting was the Zenica Development Agency ZEDA. The content of the meeting was coordinated by the lead partner in the project, Carinthia University of Applied Sciences (CUAS) from Austria. The University of Zenica (UNZE), as the other Bosnian partner in the project, provided assistance in the organization.
The main objective of the TransAC project is to establish a Danube Training Academy as a measure to combat brain drain from crisis and rural areas. The academy will focus on providing modern training in the field of additive manufacturing (3D printing), with a special focus on young people, but also other vulnerable groups. The University of Zenica (UNZE) is one of 14 project partners from 7 countries (Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Germany, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine).
The team of the University of Zenica actively participated in the meeting, consisting of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Josip Kačmarčik (project coordinator for UNZE), Assoc. Prof. M.Sc. Kenan Varda (project communications manager for UNZE), and project team members Assoc. Prof. Dr. Amer Ćaro, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Alma Žiga and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ernad Bešlagić.
During the two-day meeting, under various agenda items, the work to date and the next steps in the project implementation were discussed in detail. The implementation of the specific objectives (SO) of the project was analyzed and planned within three workshops with the following topics: defining a common vision for the Pilot Training Center (SO1), methodology for assessing the needs of training participants (SO2) and strategies for identifying and involving key stakeholders (SO3). The workshops were led by the partners responsible for these specific objectives: CUAS (SO1), the Vocational College (OU) from Croatia (SO2) and ZEDA (SO3).
As part of the agenda, a short visit to the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Zenica was also organized on Thursday. On this occasion, the partners visited various laboratories of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and got acquainted with the existing capacities, with an emphasis on those in the field of or related to additive manufacturing.
The meeting concluded by defining the next steps for the second project period. This primarily includes further gathering of information, opinions and expectations from potential participants and stakeholders, as well as the organization of national workshops with them. Activities were also agreed to further define the content and structure of the training to be conducted within the academy. At the end of the meeting, all partners present praised the organization and expressed great satisfaction with the work and results of the meeting.