WALADU Final meeting - Kufa 12th January 2020
The final meeting of the Waladu project was held at University of Kufa. 20 representatives of the Waladu partners HEIs and several public and private stakeholders attended the meeting.
The meeting was opened with short video on the results of the WALADU projectdeveloped in collaboration with all the partners. Then the welcoming session was chaired by the governor of Kufa region Dr. Luay Al-Yasiri, the President of the University of Kufa, Prof. Yasir Leftah, the President of the University of Bahgdad, Prof. Emad Hussein Mirza Hussein Al-Husseini, the President of the University of Qadisiyah, Prof. Khadum Aljibouri, the Director of the SBAH in Kufa Dr. Mohammad B. Al-Mayali and the WALADU coordinator Prof. Nicolò Marchetti (University of Bologna). Then, Dr. Hayder Al-Hamdany (University of Kufa) introduced the meeting agenda to the attendants and the presentations.
A first overview of the WALADU activities and results of the entireuntil now was provided by Nicolò Marchetti (University of Bologna) coordinator of the WALADU project. This was then followed by roundtable during which all the representatives from both the programme and partner countries Çiğdem Maner (Koç University – Istanbul) , Adelheid Otto (LMU – Munich), Latih M. Hussein (University of Baghdad), Hayder K. Al-Hamdany (University of Kufa) and Mohammed Al-Hashimi (University of Qadisiyah) illustrated the result achieved by their institution, the expectation and a general feedback of the project.
After the rountable, Federico Zaina (University of Bologna) presented in details the results of the main activities carried out during the three years. Then the coordinator of the WALADU project, Nicolò Marchetti (University of Bologna) present the last deliverable of WP8 exploitation: the WaLink network. This is an international network derived from the joint collaboration of different research groups. It aims at connecting projects partners, national and international institutions, universities and research centres from Europe, North America, Iraq, and other Middle Eastern countries actively working to support and to improve the research and teaching quality on archaeology in Iraq.
The meeting was then concluded by a speech by Alaa Hussein Jasim AL-Lami, Dean of the College of Archaeology of the University of Kufa, in which her greeted all the participants to the meeting and underlined the importance of the results of the WALADU project.
Openings of the WALADU archaeological libraries and laboratories in the Universities of Baghdad, Kufa and Qaidisiyah. The openings took place on the 14th (at Kufa and Qadisiyah) and the 15th (at Baghdad) of April 2019, at the presence of the most important academic and political institutions at local, national and international levels. Providing archaeological books and modern equipment to each Iraqi Partner University to support their activities related to research and teaching in Archaeology ha represented one of the most relevant intervention of the WALADU project. From the right column you can consult the programs and pictures of the openings.
Archaeology and Cultural Heritage for Social Cohesion: an EU-Iraqi Partnership - Joint EDUU and WALADU day at University of Bologna - April 2019
The event “Archaeology and Cultural Heritage for social cohesion: an EU-Iraqi partnership” took place on the 11th of April 2019 at the University of Bologna. In the historical venue of the Department of History and Cultures of the University of Bologna the international project teams illustrated the results and impact of the EDUU and WALADU projects. In addition, at the end of the meeting, a small media exhibition (video, posters and EDUU comic books) was also opened in the main cloister of the Department.
All the main project representatives as well as H.E. Ahmad A.H Bamarni, the Iraqi Ambassadors to Italy, and Dr. Silvia Crescimbeni, Team Leader for Middle East/Gulf Countries of DG DEVCO of the European Commission, attended the meeting.
WALADU project fourth meeting - Kufa 10 March 2019
The University of Kufa, hosted the fourth (WP4) Consortium meeting at the Department of Science on the 10th March 2019. 25 representatives from the partner universities involved in the project attended the meeting.
The general aim of the meeting was to show the results of the WP3 activities and to discuss the roadmap for the last part of the project.
After the welcome session by the President the University of Kufa Prof. Muhsin A. Abdulamir Aldhalimi and the WALADU coordinator Prof. Nicolò Marchetti (University of Bologna), Dr Hayder Al Hamdany (University of Kufa) introduced the meeting agenda to the attendants and the presentations.
During the morning session Prof Cigdem Maner (Koç University Istanbul) and Licia Proserpio (University of Bologna) presented the WP3 results and provided an overview on the challenges of the last part of the projects.
During the afternoon, three sessions were organized and coordinated by the WALADU coordination team (Federico Zaina, Licia Proserpio and Emmanuel Di Tommaso). One session focused on the impelmentation of the new WALADU courses on the Iraqi universities websites; A second session regarded the definition of the internship activities; The third session aimed at clarifying some financial and bureucratic issues still open.
WALADU project third meeting - Munich 3-4 April 2018
The Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich (LMU) hosted the third WALADU Consortium meeting between 3 and 4 April at the Institute of Near Eastern Archaeology. 17 representatives from the six European and Iraqi university involved in the project attended the meeting and actively cooperated to provide feedbacks on the previous (WP2) activities as well as to set the agenda for the next 6 months (WP3).
During the first day (3rd April), after a welcoming session by Prof. Adelheid Otto (LMU) and Prof. Nicolò Marchetti (UNIBO), the LMU team provided an overview on the WP2 results and issues. Then the WALADU coordination team introduced some of the main points of the meeting agenda: Teaching units accreditation and the activation of Interships. Ten improved teaching units have been proposed by the EU partners according to their evaluation of the syllabi produced by the Junior scholars during the training periods. The Iraqi colleagues also presented the results of their second round of mettings with the local stakeholders for the interships activation including some official documents signed by them.
The second day (4th April) was mostly dedicated to WaLib and WaLab. EU partners illustrated the list of books, instruments and software that will have been provided to the Iraqi univeristies during WP3. The list was validated by all the partners and the Iraqi colleagues illustrated the spaces (rooms and libraries) that will be dedicated to both WaLib and WaLab. In the second part the administrative staff and the WALADU coordination team discussed about some financial issues related to the next steps of the project.
WALADU project second meeting - Istanbul 2-4 October 2017
WALADU second meeting was hosted by Koç University in Istanbul from October 2nd to October 4th, 2017. The general aim of the meeting has been the presentation on the WP1 results and the final tuning of WP2 activities.
To share best practices, experts from Koç University presented the methodology and activities carried out by different department and offices to help scholars to improve their teaching techniques and to foster student inclusion in the job market.
During the afternoon session of the first day, Prof. Muhsin Afurajy, Counselor and the Chief Executive of the Accreditation and Syllabus office from the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education, gave a presentation about the current procedures to create and accreditate new teaching units in BA courses in Iraq universities. Iraq partners have contributed to the discussion presented the current state of art of their BA courses in Archaeology and possible ideas for their improvement.
During the second day the Training System Methodology (TSM) was presented by the EU partners. TSM is built on a general framework for both Senior and Junior scholars training shared by the three EU partner. During the morning session each EU partner presented the activities foreseen for the Senior and Junior training. The UNIBO team also presented the Administrative Staff training which will be carried out in February 2018.
The WALADU consortium visited the archaeology lab of Koç University Department of Archaeology and History of Art and the KUYTAM lab (https://kuytam.ku.edu.tr) a specialized lab also collaborating in archaeological project. This visit was of the greatest importance to discuss on the materials and tool to be acquired during the WP3 in order to create WaLab and WaLib.
During the first part of the afternoon session of the second day of the meeting the Iraqi partners presented the results of the workshops with the public and private stakeholders.
Then, the WALADU coordination team introduced the activities to be done during the WP3 which will last from April to October 2018.
The next Consortium Meeting will be held at the end of the WP2 and it will open the activities of the WP3. The WALADU Consortium preliminarily fixed the WP3 Consortium meeting in Munich in March/April 2018.
WALADU project Kick-off meeting - Bologna 15-17 February 2017
A three days meeting, hosted by the University of Bologna (UNIBO) in the historical venue of the DIRI - International Relations Division, opened the WALADU project. 24 representatives from the six European and Iraqi university involved in the project attended the meeting and actively cooperated to better frame actions and outcome as well as setting the project agenda.
During the first day (15th February), after a welcoming session by the UNIBO Delegate for Arab Countries and the Head of the UNIBO International Relations Area, the WALADU project coordination team introduced the general workplan and illustrated in details, objectives, expected outcomes and each workpackage. In the second part of the day, the Iraqi partners presented their BA courses in archaeology and ancient history also highlighting issues and need in the Iraqi university system.
The second day (16th February) was first dedicated to the contractual, administrative and financial aspects of the project. Then WALADU project coordination team illustrated the managerial and communication strategies foreseen. Operative Committee and Quality and Monitoring Committee were established and their scopes and members listed. In the second part of the day, the European partners presented their BA courses in archaeology and ancient history and illustrated innovative approaches in European archaeology teaching to be applied in the project as well as potential connections between archaeology and the stakeholders/labor market.
In the last day (17th February) the deadlines for WP 1, WP 5, WP 6 and WP 7 activities (February – August 2017) have been scheduled. Moreover a preliminary schedule for WP 2 (September 2017 - January 2018) has been drafted.