THE IMPLEMENTATION OF JEAN MONNET PROJECT ACTIVITIES IN PANDEMIC CONDITIONS

PAINS AND GAINS

Abstract

The Faculty of Law Osijek, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, has been granted in the year 2020 a financial support by the European Commission in implementation of the Jean Monnet Module No. 620231-EPP-1-2020-1-HR-EPPJMO-MODULE titled ''Jean Monnet Module Language and EU Law Excellence'', Decision No 620231 of September 15, 2020. The project has been elected for financing by the European Commission among almost 1500 project applications from the whole world. Three projects from the Republic of Croatia have been accepted, one of them being the “Language and EU Law Excellence'' (LEULEX) project. The project beneficiary is Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, and the project holder is the Faculty of Law Osijek. The implementation of the project has started in September 2020 and it will last until September 14, 2023. As the project encompasses teaching activities, events and workshops that were initially planned to be delivered in face-to-face form, the implementation of the project in conditions of the world pandemic of Covid-19 virus has become very challenging and needed adapting of all stakeholders to new conditions. The main goal of this paper is to present the ways, solutions and answers that were offered to these unexpected challenges and to explore how the participants in the project perceive the teaching activities within the project conducted by means of online platforms and tools with reference to improvements achieved in their knowledge and skills within the respective project activity. The method used in the research is a survey administered online among the participants of the Jean Monnet Project LEULEX. In the introductory part of the paper, the author, who is a coordinator and a contact person of the project, presents the Jean Monnet Module LEULEX and defines its main idea, goals and the planned outcomes of the project. The main part of the paper is dedicated to description of the implementation of the project that was adapted to the new Covid-19 pandemic situation. The results of the survey conducted among the project participants relating to implementation of online teaching tools, platforms, and technologies are discussed and analysed with reference to the outcomes of the project. In the closing part to the paper, conclusions are drawn on benefits and shortcomings of the changed approach to implementation of the project activities in the conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has strongly influenced private and professional lives of the people all around the world.