May 30, 2006. /Lesprom Network/. A diverse group of forest and education sector stakeholders gathered on May 23rd and 24th in Supetar, Croatia to discuss the International Master Program on forest policy and economics which will be offered by six faculties of forestry in the Western Balkans region. The curriculum of the Master Program was presented to the representatives of state forest enterprises, ministries of forestry, education and environment and private forest owners among others in a stakeholder consultation organized by the FOPER project (Forest policy and economics education and research) of EFI. The stakeholders expressed their full support to the Master Program and provided guidance in fine-tuning the curriculum, as well as identified possibilities for supporting the Master Program implementation on their own behalf. The workshop discussed the prospects of employment of the first Master Program graduates, which are expected to be available in late 2008. The interest on the forthcoming 25-30 graduates is already now on a high level, as there is clearly a need for experts in this field in the region. The workshop participants also discussed the details of another part of FOPER, a professional training program. The professional training program will offer short courses to forest and environment sector professionals. This training program focuses on policy and economics aspects and encourages to life long learning. The workshop continued the process of defining the most important training themes. There is great interest and need eg. for courses on current issues, such as the implications of EU accession to the national legislation or forest certification. The Master Program teaching will be implemented in the faculties of forestry of University of Sarajevo and University of Belgrade. The professional training courses will be organized nationally in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro and Republic of Macedonia, but there will also be regional courses. Student selection for the Master Program will be in fall of 2006. Master Program will start in February 2007 and professional training during the same year. EFI is an international organization established by European States. By the end of February 2006, ten European states (Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Romania, Spain and Sweden) had ratified the Convention on EFI. With its over 130 member organizations and seven project centers, it offers the best forest research contacts and acknowledged collaboration at the European level.