On February 23, 2026, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Bosnia and Herzegovina held the final conference of the “Better Governance for Faster Economic Growth” (EGG2) project, funded by the Government of the Kingdom of Norway.
Over four years of implementation, the USD 6.3 million project has linked education, entrepreneurship and innovation into a single development framework, empowering youth and institutions to build a competitive knowledge-based economy.
The conference at the UN House in Sarajevo brought together representatives of institutions, partners and relevant actors in order to present the achieved results, exchange experiences and review recommendations for the further development of the innovation ecosystem in BiH.
The participants were introduced to the three key components of the project – education, entrepreneurship and innovation – and the activities that were implemented within each of them.
Two panel discussions were held:
• Digital and entrepreneurial education as a driver of sustainable economic growth and
• Lessons learned and recommendations for further development of the innovation ecosystem.
The director of the Zenica Pedagogical Institute, Aida Salkić, spoke at the panel dedicated to education, who emphasized the importance of the project for the improvement of education in the Zenica-Doboj canton:
• Procurement of assistive technology with the aim of improving inclusive education in 14 elementary schools.
• Equipped STEM classrooms in two secondary schools.
• Education of 37 teachers from 19 secondary schools (152 hours of mentoring, 30 modules).
• Manuals and trainings for programming in C++ and Internet security.
• Education on protecting children in the digital environment in primary and secondary schools.
• Implemented teacher trainings for the application of business plans and developed a Handbook on entrepreneurship.
• Activities within the IT Girls initiative.
In this panel, the importance of sustainability of all implemented activities was additionally highlighted, in order to ensure long-term benefits for the education system and society as a whole.
The results of the project were also presented in other cantons and entities, where they had a significant impact on the improvement of education.
Director Salkić thanked UNDP and the Government of the Kingdom of Norway for their support and understanding of educational needs in ZDK during the implementation of the EGG2 project.
You can see more about the project and its results at the link.
