The project workflow has been structured according to eight different Workpackages (WP). The first four WPs listed below represent the key actions to be carried out during the project lifetime:
Workpackage 1 - Analysis of needs and opportunities of the Humanities field of study and the labour market in Iraq
WP LEADER: The University of Qadisiyah (QU).
GENERAL AIMS:
1. To understand academic issues and needs of Iraqi Universities as well as to improve the knowledge on the state-of-the-art in the Humanities through an evaluation of the obstacles/opportunities to modernise the BA courses and to integrate them at national level.
2. To identify local stakeholders that will help to gather further feedbacks on the state of the art and the needs of the local labour market and the expectations on the role of the universities.
3. To evaluate the criteria for integration of the new BA courses at national level and to define an efficient training system methodology (TSM) for the Iraqi staff.
WORKFLOW: The Iraqi HEIs staff members collaborated with the EU partners to better frame the current problems and needs in the Humanities higher education system in Iraq. To do so, the WP1 leader collected all the available data on the Iraqi education system and the previous BA courses in archaeology and ancient history in Iraq. Then, each Iraqi partner organised a local workshop inviting stakeholders to share the results of the needs analysis and organize internships and traineeship. Based on the results of the previous activities, the EU team members defined the guidelines for the training procedures in each selected teaching unit. During the WP1 several meetings were held to monitorize and validate the progress of the work.
Workpackage 2 - Training and transfer of know-how
WP LEADER: LMU Munich.
GENERAL AIMS:
1. To improve the preparation of Iraqi senior teaching staff.
2. To improve the preparation of Iraqi junior researcher staff.
3. To improve the preparation of Iraqi administrative staff on quality assurance and internship creation.
WORKFLOW: The Iraqi partners selected 4 senior teachers and 12 junior researchers from each university to be trained in Europe by the EU WALADU partners. Then training periods were carried out by selected staff members from each European partner. In addition to this, Iraqi administrative staff members of each university were trained by the UNIBO administrative staff. The administrative staff training was carried out in Baghdad because for administrative staff is rather difficult to leave the workplace in Iraq. During this period, an Operative meeting and a Consortium Assembly were held to monitorize and validate the progress of the works. In the final WP2 meeting, evaluation reports were issued.
Workpackage 3 - New teaching units and internship creation
WP LEADER: Koç University Istanbul.
GENERAL AIMS:
1. To jointly create/develop new bilingual teaching units and learning materials, and to validate and integrate them into existing BA courses.
2. To jointly design new internship programs with Iraqi associated partners.
3. To provide new labs (WALab) and libraries (WALib) to each Iraqi university.
4. To test the new BA teaching units through a Pilot Summer School.
WORKFLOW: The Iraqi teaching staff with support of the EU staff created the new teaching units syllabi both in English and Arabic languages and acquired the new teaching materials and equipments. Then, the 10-days Pilot Summer School was held at KU to test the effectiveness of new teaching units and teaching materials. Afterwards, the new teaching units were validated and integrated into the existing BA courses in line with the local and national criteria. Internship programs were designed with the selected Iraqi associated partners.
Workpackage 4 - New BA teaching units and creation of an international network
WP LEADER: The University of Kufa (UOK).
GENERAL AIMS: This WP is the core phase of the project: it stems directly from WP3 being its implementation, and it uses the results produced in WP1 and WP2. The aims of WP4 are:
1. To implement the new BA teaching units.
2. To prepare and start the new internship programs in collaboration with local and national Iraqi institutions.
3. To train Iraqi academic in the teaching methodology in the field of Humanities applied in the WALADU project.
WORKFLOW: The first step was the implementation of the new BA teaching units by each Iraqi university. Then in order to integrate internships in the new teachin units, a preparation workshop was held in Iraq. As a result, the students enrolled in the new BA courses were able to perform a short internship in local and national Iraqi institutions. Before the end of the project, a workshop for the Cascade training was held at UNIBO. Quality and control were continuously guaranteed during the WP 4 lifetime by two Operative Committee meeting, two Consortium Assemblies and evaluation reports issued by internal and external evaluators.
