The first Future Care Lab in the Western Balkans was inaugurated today at our partner, the Heimerer College, which is a mirror image of the reference laboratory for the practice-oriented development and application of future technologies in nursing care at the Medical Faculty in Halle, Germany.

The main focus of this FCL is on the development of complex use cases for the application of humanoid robotics (social assistive robotics). This is oriented to the Care Centered Value-Sensitive Design to integrate these adaptable technologies into the care process and to different settings under the leadership of care research. Due to the related goal of training young specialists in the field of digital and robotic healthcare, providing them with a more attractive environment to stay in Kosovo instead of seeking work elsewhere, and also attracting new foreign investment, innovation and development.

This innovation is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research of the Federal Republic of Germany under the Berlin Process. This aims to bring the Western Balkan states gradually closer to the EU and to promote EU integration by strengthening their potential in science and innovation. Accordingly, the German government is also supporting three young Kosovar scientists in doing their doctoral researches at the Medical Faculty in Halle as part of the same project. Another outcome of this project, using the innovative and participatory RIS3- strategic concept for the development of regions, is the assessment of the potential of Kosovo and the Western Balkans to specialize in digital and robotic healthcare.