UPT strengthens academic and research cooperation with Montenegro through Erasmus+ ICM mobility
From 26 July to 1 August 2026, Portucalense University academics and REMIT researchers Helena Albuquerque and Joana Quintela carried out a staff mobility in Bar, Montenegro, under the Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility (ICM) project 2025-1-PT01-KA171-HED-000344809.
The mobility was hosted by the Faculty of Business Economics and Law Bar, Adriatic University, and represented an important step in consolidating the recently established partnership between the two institutions. The Erasmus+ KA171 project provides for reciprocal student and staff mobility between Portugal and Montenegro, while also creating opportunities for cooperation in teaching, research and internationalisation.
During the visit, meetings were held with academic and administrative staff from the host institution, with the mobility programme being hosted and coordinated by Professor Nikola Abramović. These sessions provided an opportunity to present the academic structures, study programmes, teaching methodologies, research activities and internationalisation strategies of both universities. The participants also exchanged good practices in higher education, innovative teaching and cooperation between universities and their surrounding territories.
Meeting at the FPEP, Bar
Particular attention was given to planning the next stages of the project, including future student and staff mobilities, teaching and training activities, joint educational initiatives, research collaboration and dissemination. The meetings also enabled the identification of areas of mutual scientific interest, especially sustainable tourism, wine tourism, cultural heritage, landscape and territorial development.
Meeting at the FPEP, Bar
As part of the mobility’s fieldwork component, Helena Albuquerque and Joana Quintela visited two small family-run wineries in Montenegro’s Crmnica wine region: Mašanović Winery, whose family winemaking tradition spans more than 14 generations; and Cermeniza Winery, which forms part of a family-run wine tourism resort. The visits provided first-hand knowledge of the region’s wine production traditions, its landscape and the close relationship between wine, family heritage, local identity and tourism.
Masanovic Winery
The meetings with the producers focused on the wine tourism activities currently offered by these small businesses, the organisation of visitor experiences and the ways in which wine production is connected with local culture and the surrounding territory. The visits also explored some of the main challenges faced by family-run wineries, particularly regarding the promotion of their facilities and wines, market visibility, communication with potential visitors and the development of attractive tourism experiences while preserving their authenticity and family-based character.
Cermeniza Winery
This contact with local producers highlighted the potential of small wineries as spaces for experiential tourism, heritage interpretation and sustainable territorial development. It also made it possible to identify topics that could be examined through future applied and comparative research involving researchers from Portucalense University and Montenegro.
Cermeniza Winery
The knowledge gathered during the mobility will therefore support the development of joint research initiatives on wine tourism, sustainable tourism and territorial development. These may include comparative studies, student field activities, collaborative scientific publications and knowledge exchange involving universities, wine producers, tourism organisations and public authorities.
By combining institutional meetings, academic planning and engagement with local stakeholders, the mobility strengthened relations between Portucalense University and the Faculty of Business Economics and Law Bar. It also established a solid foundation for the next phases of the Erasmus+ project and for a longer-term partnership in teaching, research, mobility and internationalisation.
