JRC supports the non-EU Balkan region to build capacities for adapting national legislation in the field of construction to the EU legal framework. Starting in 2013, the JRC has organized specialized workshops and provided scientific and technical support to the non-EU Balkan region partners for the adoption and implementation of the European standards for structural design - the Eurocodes (EN 1990 to EN 1999).

Due to the high seismicity of the Balkan region, most non-EU countries in the Balkan region are close to, or are intending to, formally adopt EN 1998, which provides the principles for the design of structures for earthquake resistance.

To enable technical support in the topic, the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) and its Safety and Security of Buildings Unit organized the first edition of the JRC Eurocodes Balkan Summer School on the seismic design of concrete buildings in 2021.

The main objective of the Eurocodes Balkan Summer School was to assist the training of practitioners (design engineers) in the use of the Eurocodes in their day-to-day design practice. The Summer School scientific programme consisted of ten half-day sessions of a highly engaging and interactive programme including keynote lectures and lectures with worked examples by the Eurocodes’ drafters, group work on assignments under expert supervision, and an interactive classroom “talk with the expert”. As the topic to be addressed is the seismic design of concrete buildings, the main focus was on EN 1998 also covering relevant parts of EN 1992, EN 1990, EN 1991 and EN 1997.

The support of European Commission - JRC Enlargement and Integration Action, CEN/Technical Committee 250 “Structural Eurocodes”, CEN/Technical Committee 250 “Structural Eurocodes” Sub-Committee 8 “Eurocodes 8: Design of Structures for Earthquake Resistance”, Institute for Standardization of Serbia (ISS), Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Belgrade, Serbia for the organization of this event is highly recognized.

Civil/Structural Engineers with a strong interest in seismic design and assessment of reinforced concrete buildings from the Western Balkan region (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Kosovo*, Montenegro and Serbia), Turkey (Candidate country for EU membership) and Moldova (Horizon Europe Associated country) were invited to attend the Eurocodes School. The participants were identified with the support of Engineering Chambers and/or other relevant professional engineering institutions of the countries.

According to their background in the field, participants were divided to two groups:

• Full participants: Young/junior engineers with some professional knowledge on the design of building structures for earthquakes resistance with access to all feature of the Summer School.
• Passive participants: Senior structural engineers, following the keynote lecturers and lecturers with worked examples only.

The overall level of satisfaction of the participants considering all aspects of the Summer School exceed 80% which is strong indicator of its positive impact and open possibilities for similar follow-up events and re-use of compiled high quality training materials in the form of e-learning tool. Interaction between younger and senior engineers of the region gave additional value to the School.

*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.