EnRHEd Project Newsletter – june 2020
Welcome to our first EnRHEd Project newsletter! This newsletter aims to keep you up to date with the latest news and share key information about our exciting Project.
Of course, we are aware that these first months of the Project started under an unforeseen situation, i.e. the COVID-19 pandemic, which has touched the lives of everyone in every part of the world. However, this situation did not stop the enthusiastic team of EnRHEd, which immediately started working with online activities and meetings.
The team is working to lead this project to achieve its ultimate goal: “The Enhancement of Rwandan Higher Education in strategic fields for sustainable growth”
So, let’s take a look at this first period of work…
THE PROJECT BIRTH
January 2020
“The best we can do is seize the opportunities and turn them into projects”
The project has been built on a network of meetings and personal relationships and awarded for EU co-funding within the framework of the Erasmus+ programme “Capacity Building in the Field of Higher Education”, which supports the modernisation, accessibility, and internationalisation of higher education in Partner Countries, in this case Rwanda. The EnRHEd Project aims at organizations to help improve curricula, governance, and the strengthening of relations between higher education systems.
The main innovative character of the Project to achieve its 4 objectives is that all joint activities are carried out simultaneously at different levels of teaching and training in two key fields of interest (Food and Science Technology or FST and Environmental Protection, Safety and Management or EPSM). Based on the advantage of working in these two specific disciplines, FST and EPSM, this Project can be considered a pilot experimental methodology, since it would be applied in the future in further fields of interests.
The project is founded on an international cooperation bases between four Rwandan Institutions, such as University of Rwanda (UR), INES-Ruhengeri, IPRC-Musanze and University of Technology and Arts of Byumba (UTAB), and three European universities, namely University of Parma (Italy), University of Liège (Belgium) and Rheinische Fachhochschule University of Applied Science Cologne – RFH (Germany).
Project officially started on 15 January 2020.
THE OFFICIAL START IN RWANDA
February 2020
“Relying on a common goal is the starting point for changing the world”
Representatives and focal persons of the three European institutions formed the European delegation that visited the Rwandan partner institutions in the week between 15 and 22 February 2020. A welcome event at the European Union Embassy in Kigali took place. The delegations of the three European Universities as well as the representatives of the four Rwandan institutions involved in the project attended the event, hosted by the Ambassador Dr Nicola Bellomo.
On February 17, 2020, at Institute of Applied Sciences INES-Ruhengeri, the kick off meeting of the Erasmus+ EnRHEd project was held. The Vice Chancellor of the hosting institution, Fr. Dr. Fabien Hagenimana, introduced the meeting giving welcome remarks and presenting INES-Ruhengeri.
The Rector of the University of Parma, which is the leader institution, Prof. Paolo Andrei, sent a letter to the partners in which he stressed that “the University of Parma is very proud to be the leading institution of this important project, which allows all of us to contribute to the realization of a small piece of European policies in the field of learning development all over the world“.
The institutional greeting of the University of Parma was brought by Prof. Gabriele Costantino.
A brief presentation of each partner institution followed: UR was presented by Dr. Telesphore Kabera, IPRC-Musanze was presented by the Principal Eng. Emile Abayisenga, UTAB was presented by Dr. Eliezer Niyonzima. The program institutions were also presented: Parma University was presented by Prof. Roberto Valentino, University of Liege was presented by Prof. Roland Billen and Prof. Frederic Collin, RFH of Cologne was presented by Prof. Thomas Barth.
The final institutional message, combined with the wish for a successful project, was given by the Deputy EU Ambassador in Rwanda, Dr. Ben Nupnau. The meeting ended with a friendly moment, i.e. a lunch offered by the host institution to all those present.
E-LEARNING ACTIVITIES HAVE ALREADY STARTED…
March 2020
“We had the opportunity to get more information about e-learning through a playful and practical learning”
The implementation of a digital teaching/learning platform to facilitate e-learning, the connection between all HEIs and internationalization at home are just some of the goals that the EnRHEd Project intends to achieve.
In this first period, i.e. January-April 2020, thanks to Prof. Stefan Ludwigs from RFH (Cologne) a series of online activities has been carried out, in order to start a “virtual internship” and a mutual exchange of experience between European and Rwandan teachers.
To date, three interesting webinars have been conducted online to improve e-learning, respectively on 27 March, 8 and 17 April 2020. The brief concept included in these webinars consisted of some conceptual reflections on the personal way to include e-learning in lectures and how each university should use e-learning in its activities. Within the course platform, participants can also found the documentation/slides used during webinars.
Those who attended all three webinars and submitted a brief concept received a certificate of participation from the three European universities.
ENRHED PROJECT IS ONLINE!
April 2020
“A website becomes a doorway to the world, making close what is far away”
We are happy to announce that our website is officially online. You can look at the website directly by clicking this link: https://enrhed-erasmusplus.com/
Do not forget to check out the EnRHEd website to know more about the project, news and opportunities.
….WE ARE JUST GETTING STARTED…
FOLLOW US ON THE WEBSITE
OR
SOCIAL NETWORKS FACEBOOK, TWITTER, YOUTUBE!
AH… WE FORGOT… YOU ARE AMONG THE FIRST PEOPLE TO SEE OUR OFFICIAL LOGO…
WE WISH TO EXPLAIN TO YOU BRIFLY WHAT DOES IT MEAN….
The globe represents international cooperation, the three blue circles represent the three European universities and the largest circle with the flag represents the four Rwandan institutions. The three central letters of the acronym EnRHEd are distinguished by their colour indicating the project focus: Rwandan Higher Education.
Keep in touch!
