During the last decade of ongoing reforms in central and eastern European countries, together with the increasing requirements on the professionalisation of the civil service and the role of public administration, the schools and institutions within the NISPAcee network have been developed in terms of quality and quantity. Many of them have a very different history and differ in their approaches to complete their mission, but still they face similar and new opportunities for further improvement of their academic research and training programmes in order to meet the challenges of the contemporary era. This panel session aims to provide a forum for Heads of schools and institutes from the NISPAcee network to meet and discuss the challenges they face;  how to cope with them and similtaneously establish more sustainabale communication amongst them in the future. Therefore, all representatives of schools and institutes are welcome to participate in this panel and share their experiences with colleagues from other institutions and countries.