Enrhed Project Newsletter – December 2022
Dear all,
You will read this newsletter just before Christmas and perhaps believe that this may be the last one since the EnRHEd Project should have officially ended in January 2023. Nevertheless, due to the COVID-19 situation that has prevented so many projects from continuing their course, EnRHEd has stood its ground and never stopped, albeit with some delays to the initially planned schedule.
In order to be able to achieve all the objectives, the EnRHEd team decided to require for a project extension until January 2024. Having being positively evaluated, the project was granted an extra year.
It is therefore with pleasure that we inform you that EnRHEd will not stop and will remain with you until January 2024… so, get to work! In the meantime, as usual, we would like to update you below on some of the activities carried out in recent months!!!
Intensive training at RFH-Koln for Rwandan students and lecturers
October 2022
On November 15, the student mobility from Rwanda to Rheinische Fachhochschule Köln (RFH) in the framework of EnRHEd Project is officially ended. In fact, in the end of September 2022 two students from INES-Ruengheri were arrived to Cologne together with two students and one faculty member from UTAB-Byumba.
During this period, guests from the two Rwandan institutions have regularly attended different RFH – Koln study courses and participated in a specific project led by Prof. Schönert and Prof. Barth with the RFH students support on the following topic: “Modelling of a food supply chain from Rwandan farmers to European retailers”.
It is not all: Rwandan students also visited various facilities at RFH, such as the new PoolHaus and the FabLab, which have aroused particular interest. The Rwandan students had the opportunity to learn more and to have personally experience on very innovative technologies.
This mobility proved to be a profitable opportunity to strengthen the collaborative relationships between RFH and Rwandan Institutions. The EnRHEd team owes a great deal of thanks to Luciana Stortoni, RFH project manager, who accompanied the Rwandan guests during their two-month stay in Germany, meticulously organizing all the activities carried out and preparing the various meetings with institutions and research centers.
10 Rwandan students started their MSc in Italy thanks to EnRHEd initial support
November 2022
The University of Parma has recently welcomed 10 Rwandan tutorial assistants from some of EnRHEd partner institutions into its student ranks. The students were selected by their home University and will carry out their academic studies in Italy in order to obtain a Master’s degree in the fields of Communication Engineering, Civil Engineering, Food Safety and Food Risk Management.
In a first period, the students are supported by funds from the EnRHEd project, which will enable them to complete an initial period of co-funded intensive training, pending further extra-EnRHEd funding. The Rwandan students had already started an introduction to the Italian experience by participating in an intensive Italian language online course.
These students will now also collaborate with the EnRHEd team in Italy to help in welcoming the next incoming mobilities from Rwanda and to spread knowledge of the EnRHEd project among their European colleagues (and African friends).
Once the students will obtain the Master’s degree, they will return to Rwanda with a suitable qualification to work in their respective domains, to teach at their sending higher education institutions, and to assist their EnRHEd colleagues in the post-project phase, i.e. in deepening and keeping alive the various skills acquired thanks to the Capacity Building established by EnRHEd.
Click here to know more about the activities carried out on this topic 😉
2 lecturers from INES visiting UNIPR to further research in Civil Engineering
December 2022
Italy is one of the European countries most subject to hydrogeological risk, given the morphology of its territory. The entire Italian territory needs to be carefully monitored and controlled by researchers, academics and professionals who test the current hydrogeological dynamics in the different Italian regions (and beyond) in dedicated laboratories.
Accompanied by Marco D’Oria, Associated Professor in ‘Hydraulic and Maritime Construction and Hydrology’, the two visiting researchers from INES-Ruhengeri had the opportunity to visit the AiPO laboratories, where scientific experiments on small-scale dams and geotechnical investigations are carried out. The Rwandan visitors realised the deep usefulness of such a kind of experiments also for Rwanda, a rainy and mountainous country also characterised by a high hydrogeological risk. After visiting the laboratories, the teachers were also accompanied by Roberto Valentino, a geotechnical engineer as well as the coordinator of the EnRHEd project, to the shores of Italy’s longest river, the Po River, an important waterway and reservoir for the north of Italy.
The two Rwandan lecturers had also the opportunity to meet different research groups in the field of Civil Engineering at the University of Parma, namely Structural Mechanics, Hydraulic, Hydrology, Highway, Structural, and Geotechnical Engineering.
The visiting period of these two lecturers ended just a few days ago, and we are sure that the partnership that has been created between Rwandan and Italian colleagues will undoubtedly be beneficial for future projects (not only research) in Civil Engineering fields.
Click here to know more about the activities carried out on this topic😉
All of the abovementioned EnRHEd exchanges are allowing staff of Rwandan and European institutions to meet and further discuss about the future, promoting collaboration, establishing good practices of internationalization and stimulating the improvement of the local Higher Education.
The next planned mobility will see some European lecturers and students moving to Rwanda in the period between January and February 2023… don’t miss the updates and follow us on
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THE ENRHED TEAM
