Nowadays standing on the shoulders of giants is a key to development. In social and economic development there are number of giants, led by the European Union. Countries like Azerbaijan, in order to stand on the shoulders of giants need to study and learn the practice of these giants. Among these giants, the experience of European Union, its policy, economy and sociology are mostly learned and used. Currently, within the framework of Eastern Partnership (EaP) the government of Azerbaijan attempts to develop state’s economy, social life, law, human rights. There is observed successes in the development of market economy, decreasing corruption, poverty and unemployment.
However there still is a room for development. Considering the one of purposes of the Eastern Partnership is “focusing on democracy, governance and stability, economic integration and convergence with EU policies, energy security, and contacts between people with the aim of bringing the partners closer to the EU”, there still is a room for implementation this purpose of the program. This purpose of the EaP highlights the contacts between people of EaP countries with European countries. The implementation of this purpose of EaP along with other purposes and objectives is hard to achieve without promotion of European studies in Azerbaijan and Azerbaijani studies in the Europe to increase the awareness of both populations.

Having these points in mind, there is a need for a school to study and provide the necessary and important information, promote European integration in Azerbaijan, increase the awareness of Azerbaijani people on the European Union. With such a need in light, The CESD School of European Studies (The School, The SES) established.

Purpose of the School

The purpose of the CESD School of European Studies is to promote European Studies in Azerbaijan. The promotion includes but not limited to the increase of the awareness and participation of Azerbaijani people in Europe related activities, its economy, politics and social situation. For its purpose, the School of European Studies, by standing on the shoulders of CESD, will have massive channels with CESD along with its skilled employees. One should note the need for such a school in light of current Azerbaijan’s realities. As it is known Azerbaijan and EU share beliefs and they make relations on common interest. At the same time, this will be helpful for Azerbaijan to know European policies and strategies both economically and socially. Having such knowledge of practice in mind and empowering domestic economic and social life standards, Azerbaijan will be able to make better relations with EU.

Objectives of the School

To increase the awareness among Azerbaijani people on Europe.
o Eastern Partnership highlights importance of the inter-population communication of Union. Although there are many points to implement within this purpose of the EaP, CESD believes building strong grounds for knowledge on Europe is essential part to accomplish this purpose. Thus one of principal objectives of the CESD SES is to increase awareness among Azerbaijani people on Europe.
To promote the westernisation of Azerbaijan and its people in light of saving national values.
o Nowadays westernisation means convergence of the various standards and values on industry, technology, law, politics, economics, and lifestyle with those of democratic and industrialised countries. Having put forward the European integration, Azerbaijan will be better off by converging its standards and values with those of more developed countries, in e.g. European Union countries.

To study the European countries with the purposes of addressing challenges;

o The promotion of European studies necessitates the research and study of the European countries in terms of economy, politics, and social issues. To provide such information, the CESD SES has set an objective to continuously research and learn the current economic, political and social issues of European countries and provide insightful papers on these issues along with tailored recommendations.
To address current problems with sustainable growth prospects in mind;
o The CESD SES will ensure the provision of the solutions for promoting sustainable growth of the countries under study and coverage. Having suffered from the Eurozone debt crisis of 2011 and the Household crisis of 2007, and in light of fluctuating macroeconomic indicators the European countries strongly feel need for sustainable growth. Provision the recommendations for sustainable growth of European countries will be one of major objectives of the school.
To provide local governments with better policymaking tools;
o Having studied and promoted the European view on different economic, political and social issues, the CESD SES will allow government officials of different world countries to reflect the European strategy in their decision making points.

Activities to meet objectives

CESD’s School of European studies intends to find practical, effective, innovative solutions to domestic economic and solutions by using European practice. For this purpose and implementation of the selected objectives of EaP, the School will:
• Study European counties, with purpose of increasing awareness and promotion;
• Organise workshops to promote westernisation;
• Organise Seminars, with the participation of prominent scholars on particular social and economic policy issues, which will help participants reflect on what they think makes a good society, thereby deepening knowledge, broadening perspectives and enhancing their capacity to understand the problems;
• Organise events and conferences, to allow idea sharing and choosing the best methods from European practice.
• Prepare Research papers, which consist of discussions about European practice, strategies to use in domestic and international level.

Means for meeting the objectives:

CESD School of European Studies intends to meet its objectives via any or combination of following means:
• Seminars, workshops and presentations;
• Conferences, events;
• Qualitative research
o Surveys, archival research, and Focus Group discussion;
o Individual Interviews;
• Quantitative research
o Research by employinh of econometric models including the most basic and sophisticated ones, depending on the need and purpose.