The DECENT TEMPUS project aims at creating a Centre for Continuing Education (CCE), serving three HEIs in Kosice (Technical University of Kosice, University of P.J. Safarik and University of Veterinary Medicine) and a centre for the University of Transport and Communication (UTC) in Zilina. It will also aim at staff development, at developing highly competent managerial staff and also a group of teachers, who would be the seed group for delivering highly competitive and excellently structured courses, development of management strategy, and linking the CCE with educational networks and to form the structure of a network of cooperating institutions. A function that will be subsequent to fulfilling the aims of this SJEP will be the demand analysis, coordination of course design, preparation of teaching materials, marketing, etc. Another important aim is to introduce a new type of continual care after university graduates which would enable a systematic updating and upgrading of their knowledge with possible retraining for career modification. The CCEs would be institutions physically situated at the Technical University of Kosice and UTC Zilina, but with a distributed function including coordinating continuing education (CE) courses that are highly interdisciplinary.
The CCEs will serve also as model Centres for analogous establishments within the member universities of the Association of the Carpathian Region Universities (ACRU).
The cooperating HEIs will operate the CCE after the ending of the SJEP, which is planned for three years, at their own expense, and the CCE will rise sufficient funds for financial independence.

Development of the DECENT project was motivated also by the following facts:

• short life cycle of knowledge, necessity to update it on a regular basis
• to upgrade a university-industry cooperation
• call for the diversification of university education, introduction of efficient, modular life-long education
• non-existing professional institution for life-long education in the Slovak Republic
• 1996 - Year of life-long education (UNESCO).

• management of CCE (including development of business plan, needs analysis, marketing, etc.)
• course development methodology, new educational technologies (multimedia, CD ROMs, etc.)
• cooperation with non-university partners (Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Business Innovation Centre (BIC), Regional Advisory and Consultancy Centre (RAIC), etc.)
• coordination with other projects (e.g. PHARE project in the field of Distance education, etc.)

• WG1: Environmental Law
• WG2: Environmental Management
• WG3: Information Technology
• WG4: Telecommunication Technology
• WG5: Cleaner Technologies