It has been quite a year, I would say. Very busy autumn from the last days of August up to the first days of December, 110 expert days altogether. The Steering Committee has had its last meeting of the year and last expert missions of the autumn are now behind. Still, the project is going on, our Azerbaijani colleagues Tofig Ahmadov and Elshan Nuriyev are now in Helsinki in their second week of internship, after a week in Tallinn.

The final week ended with a Conference on ‘Accreditation as Quality Assurance’. The conference, arranged by the Ministry of Education and the Accreditation and Nostrification Office, and supported by the EHEA Twinning project, was like the final festival of the year. The Minister, Mr. Mikayil Jabbarov opened the conference, and stated that aligning Azerbaijani higher education with European Higher Education Area is an essential step to improve the quality of higher education in Azerbaijan and that the EHEA Twinning project plays an important role. Finnish experts, Helka Kekäläinen, our project leader, and Kati Isoaho, both from the FINEEC, gave a fine contribution to the international conference, together with lecturers from Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Germany and the UK.

Last week was a welcome refreshment for the EHEA Twinning team after the busy autumn. I myself enjoyed oriental bath at Aga Mikayil hamam in the Old City, had a lunch with my Finnish friends and a farewell party with my RTA colleagues, honouring our Spanish colleague Pilar who is leaving Baku after a successful project. I had the pleasure of finalising the weekend in the Opera and Ballet Theatre watching my favourite ballet Swan Lake, an excellent presentation with divine music. It is good to end the year feeling happy and satisfied. I am convinced that next spring will be even better for the Twinning project and Azerbaijan higher education. The best season ahead!

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