Ms. Belén Enciso, Project Officer of the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), visited Armenia from 13 to 16 November 2018. She oversees several Erasmus+ Capacity Building Higher Education Projects (CBHE) in Armenia on behalf of the Agency. Ms. Enciso carried on an intense schedule of meetings with the national education authorities and with the representatives of ongoing, finished and newly selected projects. She used this opportunity to see the reality on the ground at first hand and to convey direct messages to the stakeholders.   

In the framework of the visit, meetings were organized at the Ministry of Education and Science of Armenia (MoES) and at the Delegation of the European Union to Armenia (EUD). She had discussions with Ms. Arevik Anapiosyan, Deputy Minister of MoES, Mr. Gonzalo Serrano, Head of Cooperation of EUD and Mr. David Avakian, Project Manager at EUD. This was a great opportunity to assess higher education developments in Armenia and to take stock of reform efforts since the recent political turmoil, resulting in a change of government.

On November 14, a meeting was held with the National Team of Higher Education Reform Experts (HEREs). The conversation dwelt on the current state of HERE activities and the issues to be addressed that could raise the productivity of the team’s work, thus making it more effective and coherent for the higher education system given the new political environment in the country.

As part of a comprehensive field monitoring policy of EACEA, two advisory and one impact monitoring visits were conducted. On 14-15 November, advisory monitoring of Erasmus+ Capacity Building Higher Education “BOOST” and “INCLUSION” Projects were implemented at the premises of Armenian State Pedagogical University, State Academy of Fine Arts of Armenia and American University of Armenia. The purpose of the visits was to have a better overview of the funded projects, their objectives and results, and to become better acquainted with the institutions and stakeholders involved.
The second impact monitoring visit of Tempus “ARARAT” Project was was organised on 15 November at Armenian State University of Economics. Special emphasis was placed on the sustainability of the project, on the dissemination and exploitation of the results, as well as on the impact of the project on individual, institutional and national level.  

On 15 November, Yerevan State Medical University hosted the meeting with the representatives of the newly-selected five CBHE Projects (All4R&D, DPPHSS, MENVIPR, MODEST, MINERVA) with the aim to inform the project coordinators and participants on the main rules and essential documentation to be considered during the project implementation and to provide preliminary advice and guidance. 

In the framework of the four-day visit, Ms. Belén Enciso also participated in a Cluster Meeting of ongoing CBHE (LNSS, HARMONY, BOOST, INCLUSION, C3QA, e-DRONE) and finished Tempus projects (PEOPLE, PICASA, ALIGN, GOVERN, VERITAS, ESPAQ, TNE-QA) tackling Governance Reforms and University Management. The event took place on the 16^th of November at Armenian State University of Economics. The objective was to describe the actual operational situation of the structures/regulations after the closing of the projects that created them; to share knowledge and promote synergies between the projects; to identify best practices and overcome common obstacles; to avoid overlaps between projects and structures; to raise awareness among the stakeholders; to enhance the Programmes’ overall visibility and impact.