WP 7 - Dissemination of the Project's results

TOOLKIT's overarching aim is contributing to the setting up of  “an Asian way towards internationalization”, the dissemination and sustainability of the project’s outputs are therefore essential instruments to accomplish this general objective. The dissemination activities are planned and included in the development work packages (WPs 2,3 and 4), which foresee national workshops or national cascades trainings to disseminate the WPs deliverables among other Universities, Government authorities and policy makers in the three Asian countries.

WP 7 comprises more traditional instruments for the dissemination and foresees the implementation of online and offline deliverables. TOOLKIT’s website and social network feeds have been created to reach a wider audience and different target groups. In addition to the project’s website, the Consortium worked on the update or the development of web pages on participating Universities’ websites dedicated to international relations. After WP3 and WP4 activities, the IROs designed and produced promotional materials and fed their web pages with the information about the international opportunities for study and educational cooperation.

Please find the detailed dissemination plan in the box below.

7.1 Project’s website and social networks’ profiles

The purpose of this task was to design and realize the TOOLKIT’s project website, as well as the project’s social network profiles, in order to spread and promote all the activities performed in the framework of the project.

It is also meant to redesign and restructure the University websites of TOOLKIT’s local partners, enhancing their fruition especially in terms of transparent and easily accessible information on academic management and international relations.

The website and the social media accounts acted throughout the project cycle as the principal channel for keeping target groups informed about all relevant project matters.

The website map was developed and validated for the whole period of the project by the project team, by UNIBO. Social networks feeds, moreover, played an important role in terms of dissemination, given their current importance and diffusion among local students as precious tools to share the information and materials often missing from Universities’ websites. 

The revised structure of the University websites was designed and finalized by the project team, with a particular emphasis in the development of an English version.

Consortium worked on the revision and implementation of IR webpages.

7.2 New Promotional Materials for Asian Universities to attract new international partners

In order to design and provide timely and efficient promotional material for TOOLKIT’s partners, brochures and promotional materials realized by each partner University have been presented, evaluated and tested by the WP leaders. After this validation, the brochures were distributed internationally with the help of EU partners.

In order to attract international partners and stakeholders, promotional videos have also be produced.  

7.3 Visibility actions for Asian IRO

The activities performed by the IROs of Asian partner Universities should be clearly indicated in University’s institutional websites and promoted to the entire academic community.

Thanks to WP3 and WP4 activities, the IRO in each Asian partner Universities standardized its tools and practices in project design and management, as well as in mobility support. At this point, each IRO needed new promotional/dissemination materials to inform all the academic communities of the international relation opportunities in a more comprehensive and coherent way. First of all, each partner University gave clear space to IRO activities in their University institutional websites. These spaces were negotiated with the University governance. Secondly, leaflets and brochures were distributed to all the academic community during WP5 activities.

7.4 Handbook on TOOLKIT methodology and best practices

The main purpose of the activity was to develop and construct a Handbook on TOOLKIT methodology and best practices and share it with 500 Asian Universities.

The Handbook has been drafted with the support of all the partners, and then revised by the WP leaders. 

Drawing for the experience acquired in these 2 years on online tools, the Consortium proposed to replace this final TOOLKIT Handbook with another instrument which will be more interactive, accessible and sustainable.  As a final deliverable the Consortium implemented an HTML interactive map which illustrates both the trends and actions towards internationalization in Asian context and shows links to the tools developed by the projects.

OPEN National Conference - July 28th Souphanouvong University

On July 28^th 2022 the first OPEN National Conference took place in Luang Prabang at Souphanouvong University. In this occasion the activities of the Toolkit project were also presented to the audience.

The main objectives of this National Conference were to:

-     disseminate information on the OPEN project,

-     promote the IROs from 5 Laotian HEIs,

-     present the results of the project achieved to date,

-     promote dialogue on internationalisation of higher education at the national level and induce policy-making.

The event saw the participation of more than 80 participants from the Ministry of Education and Sports, 5 public HEIs, 2 EU universities and other local colleges and students.

During the conference the experience of the CBHE project Toolkit was presented. The discussion was conducted by Ms. Lucia Ippolito (Toolkit Coordination team, University of Bologna) who gave a general overview of the project followed by a detailed description of the project milestones and activities. A special attention was given to the presentation of the two latest deliverables of the Project: the Mobility Handbook and the Toolkit Guide on Project Design and Management. The latter was also distributed to the audience during the Conference. In addition, this presentation was intended to give useful insights on the management and developments of another project in the framework of Erasmus+ Capacity Building Key Action 2.

APAIE - Virtual Annual Conference & Exhibition - March 27-31, 2022

From March 27^th to March 31^st, 2022, professionals in the field of international education from all around the world were brought together during the APAIE Annual Conference & Exhibition. The Asia-Pacific Association for International Education is an organization which aims to encourage greater cooperation between institutions, to enrich and support international programmes, activities and exchanges, and to promote the value of international education across the region and beyond. It is a thriving association which attracts 2000 delegates and over 200 exhibitors from all around the world each year.

 Giovanna Filippini (Director of International Relations Division, University of Bologna), Neelakshi C. Premawardhena (Senior Professor and Director of International Affairs, University of Kelaniya) and Mr. Palitha Douangchack (Deputy Head, International Relations and Project Management Division, Souphanouvong University) were selected to participate to this year’s annual Conference & Exhibition. In order to be appointed, they took part to the APAIE’s Call for Abstract where they presented their proposal about Brave New Realities for Higher Education in the Asian Pacific.

During the conference, they presented many interesting topics among which opportunities and challenges for virtual mobility students in a post-pandemic world, the adaptation process to a changing world and the importance of a blended approach. The guests then presented the numerous activities and events carried out within the TOOLKIT project framework and explained how they positively affected the management of virtual internationalization activities at their home institutions. Finally, it was pointed out the usefulness of the TOOLKIT Project in granting increased global visibility of Asian HEIs and their internationalization strategies.

The event concluded with a Q&A session open for the floor where interesting discussions and comments about future perspectives came out.

Please find below this year’s conference material:

Erasmus days University of Kelaniya – 14^th October 2021

On October 14th 2021 the Centre for International Affairs of the University of Kelaniya organized the event ‘Erasmus Days’. 

This event had a precise aim which was to disseminate the growing importance of digital transformation in the post-pandemic scenario. The topics covered during the seminar concerned the transition to a more digitalized approach to internationalization. In particular, many examples were reported regarding virtual mobility experiences and projects entirely carried out online.

Many international partners of the University of Kelaniya from several Countries such as Croatia, Poland, Estonia, Portugal and France were invited to share their point of view on these topics.

Lucia Ippolito (TOOLKIT coordination team) has then presented the challenges that the project had to face due to the spreading of the pandemic. In particular, the presentation focused on all the advantages and disadvantages of a switch to the online mode in the development of the project activities. The meeting was concluded with a forecast of how the future will look like. It came out that blended approach may be dominant in the future allowing to increase accessibility, save money and reduce pollution.

After the presentations of these guests, the discussions ended with an example of Digital Transformation and foreign language teaching from BA German Studies Programme. The event saw also the testimony of the students who participated in virtual mobility programmes sharing their point of view on this experience.

Please have a look at the box below for the conference materials.

Opening Ceremony of the Toolkit International Communication Hub (TICH), (University of Peradeniya, July 2^nd, 2021)

On July 2^nd, 2021, the University of Peradeniya organized the Opening Ceremony for the Toolkit International Communication Hub (TICH). The ceremony celebrated the opening of the new Hub, which was established thanks to the equipment purchased in the framework of TOOLKIT project and co-founded by Erasmus + Programme of the EU The  event started with the welcoming speech made by Professor Shameen Janadasa, Director of the International Relations Office, followed by other addresses and various congratulations massages. Deputy Vice Canchellor, Professor S.H.P. Parakrama Karunaratne held a congratulation speech, followed by greeting messages from both the European Union delegation from Colombo ad the TOOLKIT Coordination Team from the University of Bologna.  

Please have a look at the box below for the ceremony materials.

Toolkit project Myanmar training (January 29^th 2020)

The representatives of the IROs of 18 Universities of Myanmar have gathered in Yangon on 29th January 2020 to attend a workshop organised by the University of Yangon Toolkit project team. 

The main purposes of the meeting were:

• Share the ongoing work about the development of the International Cooperation Office at The University of Yangon;
• Share the knowledge acquired during the meetings of Toolkit Project;
• Understand how the universities can work together in the future, in order to establish an international network of collaborations and partnerships. 

During the meeting the main issues were: the international strategies that have to be implemented to extend the borders of the University, the development of a web site, and finally how to found an International Relations Office in Myanmar environment. At the end of the workshop, the participants exchanged their opinions and had an involving discussion about the challenges that arise when working internationally. 

Unfortunately, all beautiful experiences must come to an end. Eventually, the attendants received the presentation used during the meeting and decided to create an e-mail group to keep in touch, also for further workshops during the next steps of the Toolkit Project and to share the possibilities of new international collaborations.

Round table session with the Directors of the International Units of Universities (January 28^th 2020)

The impact of the Toolkit Project in Asian countries

The Directors of the international Units of Universities in Sri Lanka joined on 28^th January 2020 a round table session organized by the National Scientific Foundation (NSF) of Sri Lanka. 

The focus of the meeting was the creation of a local network to promote international scientific cooperation.

Shameen Jinadasa, International Affairs Office Director of the University of Paradeniya, held a presentation about the opportunities of the internationalization, such as scholarships, global access to talent, better rankings and alignment with the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) of the United Nations. 

Among others, he explained that his University is one of the partners of the CBHE project Toolkit funded by the EU, which has provided important trainings and funds to some Asian Universities to help enhance their internationalization. The EU-funded projects, in fact, can be a fundamental support for the Universities of Sri Lanka, that are experiencing a lack of financial resources.

Those are the main reasons why, at the end of the meeting, people decided to build a network of all Universities and a dedicated web page on the NSF website to post every international project, so that each University can be immediately aware of the international possibilities offered for students and researchers.

Cluster Meeting with Lao partner HEIs – 23rd October 2019

On 23rd October 2019, the Education, Audiovisual, Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), of the European Commission organized a Cluster Meeting of the Lao Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) involved in Erasmus+ CBHE projects. The meeting was held in Vientiane at the EU Delegation to the Lao PDR premises.

The main purpose of this meeting was to provide the Lao HEIs an opportunity to synergize, create contacts and network in order to maximize the impact of CBHE actions in the Country. During this cluster meeting it was showed what has been achieved so far in the CBHE projects framework and what was expected to be achieved in the upcoming years.                               

In addition, a representative from the Lao Ministry of Education and Sports and a representative from the EU Delegation took part to the event to make welcoming statements and some opening remarks.

During the meeting all the CBHE projects carried out in Laos were addressed. In this regard, TOOLKIT project’s Lao partner HEIs presented the objectives, outcomes and impact of the TOOLKIT Project in their Country.

The event concluded with the delivery of all the challenges and conditions for an effective project implementation.