Croatian university is new partner

UCCS will work as a partner to the University of Zagreb, Republic of Croatia, to help build an Eastern Europe Center of Excellence in Homeland Security.

Mike Perini, executive director, National Institute of Science, Space and Security Centers at UCCS announced a partnership earlier this month between UCCS, the University of Zagreb and the City of Zagreb. The partnership is an extension of the Center for Homeland Security, a division within NISSSC.

“This partnership is a natural outgrowth of the development of UCCS as a world leader in homeland security studies,” Perini said.

Following the UCCS development and delivery in July 2008 and Feb. 2009 of seminars on trans-Atlantic civil security in Germany at the George C. Marshall European Centre for Security Studies, Zagreb officials asked UCCS to help create a similar program for Croatia.

UCCS will develop and deliver several courses in homeland security and assist the University of Zagreb in establishing a regional center of excellence in homeland security. In the long-term, UCCS will assist the University of Zagreb in maturing the center of excellence and designing, developing and delivering master’s and doctoral degrees in homeland security.

Established in 1669, The University of Zagreb enrolls 60,000 students and is the largest university in southeastern Europe. It consists of 29 faculties, three art academies and the Centre for Croatian Studies and offers a wide range of academic degree courses leading to bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees.

To complete the details of this initiative, UCCS hosted a Croatian delegation led by Pavle Kalinic, head of the Zagreb Office of Emergency Management, from Aug. 10-15. As part of that visit, UCCS and Zagreb officials visited with U.S. Northern Command, State of Colorado, El Paso County and Colorado Springs emergency management officials, and tour various emergency management equipment and facilities.