Entrepreneurship and gender equality in higher education, as well as internationalisation,quality assurance and accreditation, were the main topics of the first cycle of webinars, organised by UNIMED in collaboration with the University of Pisa,the University of Murcia and the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in Kurdistan region of Iraq.
The rationale behind this first series of thematic webinars – held on June 5th and 12th and on July 3rd and 10th – was to keep the collaboration within UNIMED network between European universities and Kurdish universities and to further strengthen their competences and skills in a participative approach through online training opportunities on a number of topics that are at the core of the main strategy of the Ministry at national level in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The webinars indeed are framed in a follow-up measure of the EU co-funded project APPRAIS – governAnce, quality, accountability: a Piloting Reform PRrocess in kurdistAn regIon of Iraq, ended last January and coordinated by UNIMED.
Addressed to University leaders (vice-presidents for students’ affairs and scientific affairs), Directors of entrepreneurship, career and development centres and their staff, heads of international relations offices and their staff, directors of Quality Assurance, Bologna process responsibles, Academic and administrative staff, the webinars saw the participation between 60 to more than 300 attendees from several HEIs from Kurdistan region of Iraq, open not only to the UNIMED members from Kurdistan but also to anyone else interested university from KRG.
Webinars topics
Universities play a fundamental role in promoting entrepreneurial education, implementing actions that foster innovation and entrepreneurship among their researchers, university staff and students, even undergraduate and graduate programs. New entrepreneurial activities at higher education level were shared by the University of Murcia as a way to contribute to economic growth by boosting employment, intensifying market competition and driving innovation.
On another note, the webinar focused on gender equality seeked to raise the importance played by gender equality and the valorisation of differences in the definition of policies to promote a new and more efficient model of governance in Academia. Through the case study represented by the University of Pisa, it was shown the translation of the gender mainstreaming principle in the university strategic plan to empower the performance in terms of: economic objectives, better allocation of resources, efficiency and workplace well-being.
The last two webinars organised in July, were focused on quality assurance and its linkage with internationalisation of higher education as a way to promote the vision of an internationalization based on shared standards, starting from a framework of common qualifications, thus enabling collaboration with higher education systems in other parts of the world. TheUniversity of Pisa demonstrated that the link between quality and internationalization is twofold: there cannot be internationalization without a quality improvement process, as there cannot be quality in research and educational offer without internationalization. To be truly effective, the internationalization process must involve all institutional components, from research to training, from scientific dissemination to technology transfer activities, and mobility of students, teachers and staff.
Finally, the last webinar aimed to present the Accreditation process in Higher Education, from a general point of view, including the accreditation at different levels: study programs, quality assurance and accreditation of the professors, through the case study of Spanish universities according to the legislation and ANECA (National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation in Spain).
For more information on the initiative, see the brochure here and stay tuned for further initiatives of this kind in the near future!
