When
21 May 2014 / 14:30 - 15:30 and 16:00 - 17:10
Presentations
Western Balkans in the European Higher Education Area – challenges and opportunities for international cooperation
and
International dimension of Erasmus+
About
Helene Skikos has a background in education with a teaching degree from Ontario, Canada. At the start of her career she taught upper secondary in Brampton, Ontario, and then in Argos, Greece. She then moved to holding management positions in the telecommunications giant Bell Canada and later in hospital administration in the US.
In 1996, she joined the European Commission and has subsequently acquired experience in several Directorates-General including Research, Enterprise, Trade, and in the service responsible for the functioning of the European Schools system.
In 2006 Helene joined the Directorate-General for Education and Culture, became responsible for the launch of Tempus IV and the project selection procedure of this programme. Until 2010 she has been responsible, at different times, for countries in the Western Balkans, the Eastern Partnership and Central Asia.
Currently as Policy Officer in the unit for International Cooperation and Programmes, Helene is responsible for implementing policy cooperation activities and monitoring developments in education, in the Western Balkans. She contributes to the EU's annual bilateral policy dialogue in the areas of education, training, youth and culture and to preparing these countries for the obligations of EU membership in these areas.
Since 2011, Helene is the coordinator of the Western Balkans Platform on Education and Training. It is the EU's latest initiative for policy dialogue at Ministerial level, exchanges of good practice and regional cooperation in targeted activities