FEB became a project partner on ESF project ReCeZa

As a project partner, the Faculty of Economics & Business Zagreb (FEB) has started collaboration on an EU project entitled "ReCeZa – Regional Center Zabok" whose primary goal is to transform Zabok High School into one out of six Croatian regional centres of competence in tourism and hospitality. The project is implemented within the Operational Program "Effective Human Resources 2014-2020", and is co-financed by the European Social Fund (ESF) in the financial period 2014-2020. The estimated duration of the project is from February 2020 to December 2023.

The beneficiary of the funds and the holder of the project is Zabok High School, while the FEB is a partner organization in the implementation of this project. Other partners are Krapina-Zagorje County, Secondary School of Economics Varaždin , Secondary School Prelog, Tourism, Catering and Food School Bjelovar, Croatian Employment Service – District office Krapina, University of Rijeka – Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Salve Regina – Marija Bistrica JSC, Chamber of Trades and Crafts of Krapina-Zagorje County , Association of teachers in the field of catering education, and Biotechnical Educational Centre Ljubljana.

The project coordinator at the FEB is Prof. Oliver Kesar, PhD.

Upon completion of this project, Zabok High School should become a regional centre of education and training in tourism and hospitality based on the implementation of quality, practical and internationally oriented education programs for students, teachers, mentors, employers and staff of all tourism stakeholders at the regional level.

The partnership of the FEB is based on providing expertise through professional and scientific work, especially in conducting public opinion polls, conducting scientific research, participating in drafting guidelines for policy development and social impact analysis of proposed guidelines. The FEB participates in four elements of the project: Establishment of organization and development of ReCeZa, Strengthening the competencies of teachers and mentors, Innovation and cooperation, and Promotion of professional occupations and operations of ReCeZa.

In addition to the centre in Zabok, competence centres have been established in Split, Osijek, Opatija, Pula and Dubrovnik. The entire project, worth more than HRK 388 million provided from the ESF fund (85%) and the state budget of the Republic of Croatia (15%), is focused on human resource development in tourism and hospitality. Regional competence centres as a system of dual education should strengthen interest in vocational occupations in tourism and hospitality, provide more practical work to students and facilitate entry into labour market in which innovation and entrepreneurship will be particularly valued. The main role of regional competence centres is to eliminate or minimize the current bottlenecks in education, and in addition to employers, higher education institutions, as well as professional associations, chambers, foreign partners and other interested stakeholders have a significant role in the process of establishing centres.

The level 1 intermediary body is the Ministry of Tourism of the Republic of Croatia, and the level 2 intermediary body is the Croatian Agency for Vocational Education and Training.