© GIZ/Mila Jovanovska
On 27 May 2026, five universities from North Rhine-Westphalia and North Macedonia signed an MoU in Skopje as part of the German Government and Federal State Programme (BLP) for cooperation in the field of circular economy with the aim of a continuous exchange of experience. They express the intention to jointly review their curricula and make them more practice-oriented and to cooperate on events relevant to the circular economy in the future.
On 27.05.2026, the rectors of five universities from North Rhine-Westphalia and North Macedonia signed an MoU in Skopje for the continuous exchange of experiences with a focus on the circular economy. The Kirill and Methodius University of Skopje, the Institute for Research in Environment, Civil Engineering and Energy (Skopje), the Technical University of Cologne, the University of Hagen and the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy took part. The signing of the MoU took place in the auditorium of the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the Kirill and Methodius University Skopje and was introduced by speeches by the Macedonian Minister of Education Vesna Janevska, the German Ambassador Petra Drexler, the GIZ Country Director David Oberhuber and the NRW State Chancellery Representative Eva Durstewitz-Marschall. All speakers emphasized the importance of international cooperation, especially in areas relevant to the environment and climate, and their support for this new initiative of the partner countries NRW and North Macedonia.
The origin of the University Dialogue:
The core component of the German Government and Federal State Programme (BLP) "Practice-oriented preparation of young leaders for transformation processes in North Macedonia and Kosovo" (01.07.2025 – 31.12.2026) is a scholarship program with internships in Germany, in which a total of 90 students from North Macedonia and Kosovo have participated since 2022. In September 2025, it was decided to expand this project to include the new component of a university dialogue.
Since this project of the federal-state programme is co-financed by the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) as part of its partnership with North Macedonia, which has been established for five years, coordination talks have been held with universities in NRW and North Macedonia sinceSeptember 2025. The above-mentioned universities expressed the greatest interest and agreed to examine options for cooperation and their formalisation. To establish the university dialogue, representatives of the above-mentioned five universities took part in initial coordination talks at the Kirill and Methodius University of Skopje at the end of September 2025, in which it was agreed to focus the cooperation on the topic of circular economy, as there is an urgent need for action in this area both in North Macedonia and in NRW. Subsequently, lecturers were sent to events in North Macedonia and North Rhine-Westphalia. For example, a speaker from the Wuppertal Institute in North Rhine-Westphalia took part in the 21st International Symposium of the Macedonian Association of Structural Engineers (MASE) on recycling in the construction industry in Ohrid from 24-27.09.2025 and Prof. Wolf, Vice President of the Technical University of Cologne, participated in the 11th Conference on the Circular Economy at the Kirill and Methodius University of Skopje on 18.12.2025. In return, five professors from Skopje took part in the "Circular Valley Convention" trade fair in North Rhine-Westphalia (Düsseldorf, 11/12 March 2026). In addition, this visit was used to coordinate and finalise the text of the MoU with the German partner universities in NRW.
Further developments after the signing of the MoU:
By the end of 2026, the participating universities will jointly analyse their curricula as part of the university dialogue formalised by MoU and, if necessary, integrate more practice-oriented components in order to better address the needs of the recycling industry and the labour market. In addition, it is planned that Macedonian university representatives will participate as speakers in events of the European initiative Circular Week 26.-31.10.2026 in NRW. Through regular digital meetings, the partner universities want to inform each other about important conferences, trade fairs, etc. in the field of circular economy. An extension of the university dialogue to other universities from NRW and North Macedonia (e.g. an integration of the Mother Teresa University Skopje into the MoU) is possible in a subsequent phase.
© GIZ/Mila Jovanovska
© GIZ/Mila Jovanovska
© GIZ/Mila Jovanovska