Laos

OPEN Consortium organised the 2^nd OPEN Online Training throughout the months of June and July. Representatives from the 5 Laotian Higher Education institutions of the OPEN consortium and the Ministry of Education gather together to take part in these meetings. They worked on successive theoretical and practical sessions of training, scheduled during the whole month on to instruct and guide them through the process of formulating their Internationalisation Strategic Plans.

Over the last year and a half, the Higher Education sector over the world has been seen affected by the current pandemic crisis. The HEIs were forced to reinvent themselves in order to keep up with the expected quality levels of teaching and performance. Cambodian Institutions, partners of the Erasmus+ CBHE project BALANCE are not the exception. Lately working remotely, using virtual communication platforms has become a reality and efficient alternative. To maintain the project running the consortium has been gathering online each 2 months to evaluate the progress of the activities, share experiences and doubts, overcome obstacles and mitigate any delay. During the last Virtual meeting, held on June, 17^th, 2021, the University of Alicante updated partners on the advances made within the definition of the indicators for the communication platform and their work with the MoEYS as well as a progress made with the White paper drafting after collecting questionnaires from KH HEIs. The 1^st version to be presented during the next on-line meeting.

OPEN Consortium celebrated the 1^st National Round Table in Vientiane (Lao PDR) on 4tth March 2021. The gathering was attended by the Vice minister of the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES), high-representatives from other ministerial bodies of the Lao PDR government and the  European Union Ambassador to Lao PDR. During the meeting, 2 crucial publications, as result of the coordinated work of the OPEN consortium, were officially presented to the audience: “Needs Analysis“document and the “International Relationships Offices Management Guide”.

They were joined by a numerous delegation of at least 50 participants of  the Higher Education Institutions of Lao PDR, including high-representatives from the managerial staff, representatives from international organisations, together with the members of the International Relationships Offices of the 5 public Universities which take part in the OPEN consortium. The 1^st OPEN National Round Table was a blended conference in which Laotian partners participated on face-to-face basis, congregating in the Crowne Plaza Hotel of Vientiane, and the EU representatives of the OPEN project from Italy and Spain contributed online.

The OPEN project held its 1st training of trainers module which due to the COVID-19 emergency was organised on-line from November 9th to 12th, 2020 for the staff from 5 Universities International Relations Offices and Ministry of Education and Sports in Lao PDR. The training was jointly delivered by the University of Alicante and the University of Bologna.

This workshop was centered on the following topics:

• Globalisation vs. Internationalisation
• Introduction to Fundraising and Project Management
• Information and communications technologies for IROs.

OPEN partners met on July, 8th for the 2nd Virtual meeting to follow up on project progress and activities made so far. The main discussion was focused on the advances related to the WP 1: Need Analysis. A recent survey “The state of internationalisation in Laos: need analysis & mission sharing”, developed by UNIBO, was successfully completed by all Laotian partners

The REACT project and the REACT Network for Climate Change Research and Education in Southeast Asia are organising an International Conference on Climate Change in Ho Chi Minh City from September 19 - 20, 2019.

The International Conference CLIMATE CHANGE CHALLENGES FOR THE LOWER MEKONG BASIN REGION: FINDINGS, CRUCIAL PROBLEMS AND LESSONS LEARNED FROM ACTION PLANS TO DATE aims to bring together scholars and researchers of Higher Education and research institutions from the region in order to create a stronger network and foster intraregional collaboration in CC research and innovation. Stakeholders from industry, NGOs, government and other institutions from the region will be invited in order to take part in the discussions of the findings. The goal is to convey and unite the efforts of researchers and stakeholders in order to reflect and build up on the existing knowledge and boost the efforts in CC related research and actions in the region.

The University of Alicante coordinated project REACT “Strengthening climate change REsearch And innovation CapactiTies in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam”  recently held its third Training of Trainers module and second Regional Round Table in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The event, which also included a 1-day coordination meeting, took place from July 9th to 13th and was hosted by the Royal University of Agriculture.

Titled “Financing Climate Change Activities in HEIs”, the training module delivered by experts from the OGPI and the University of Alicante, as well as from REACT partner Institut Euro-Méditerranéen en Science du Risque, aimed to

The University of Alicante coordinated project REACT “Strengthening climate change REsearch And innovation CapactiTies in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam” recently held its second Training of Trainers module in Kampong Cham, Cambodia.

Last 25th May the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), which manages different EU education programmes on behalf of the European Commission, organised a cluster meeting for all Vietnamese Higher Education Institution partners of selected Capacity Building for Higher Education projects. Representatives from the ENHANCE and REACT projects coordinated by the University of Alicante, were selected to attend the Cluster Meeting.
The main aim of meeting that took place at the Novotel Saigon Hotel in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, was to seek synergies and identify the different challenges and best practices. The following topics were addressed: experience in international cooperation, experiences in the implementation and management of projects under the Eramus + programme, main challenges faced and dissemination of project results.

Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam are the three countries on which the new European project takes its first steps this week at the University of Alicante (UA). REACT (strenghtening climate change REsearch And innovation Capacities in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam) aims to strengthen the area of research on climate change issues in these Asian countries. Coordinated by the UA and with the participation of 11 partners, the project is funded by the EU under the Erasmus + program and lasts for three years.

The next REACT meeting will be held in Laos in October, at the Souphanouvong University in Luang Prabang.