Description
The aims of the project are to participate in common workshops to learn and develop good practices in the area of strategic development, working together with industry, to experience teaching in a demanding international environment, to participate in teaching methodology seminars and in sessions that aim to work out sustainable relationships between academics of the two institutions and their business partners. These aims are well harmonised with the local development strategy. The expected outcome of the project is the establishment of closer relations between teaching and industry, College of Szolnok and Buskerud and Vestfold University College (HVB) staff, and further institutional and personal internationalisation. The direct benefits will come at a management, teacher and student level in both institutions. Indirect benefits will be most apparent at a student, local business and economy level. HBV has the role of offering opportunities and sharing good practices. HBV aims to further maintain cooperation with the College of Szolnok, and to develop the internationalisation of their teaching staff.
Summary of project results
The project was undertaken to help to manage the following problems at the promoter institution: the number of students was decreasing and this problem had not been compensated by quality improvement; the teaching was not skills-based enough and the level of internationalisation was low even though it was one of the key parts of the internationalisation strategy. The participant students and staff shared their good experiences to their schoolmates and workmates to promote new ideas and breaking the preconceptions against foreign people and travelling abroad. All the mobility reports are still available on the institution’s intranet network. Spending a period of study at a partner university exposes students to new knowledge, technologies and methods. Learning abroad initiates the development of research networks, which may foster collaborations in the future. Sending the brightest students enhanced the reputation of the institution with future generations of researchers and employers. Learning abroad promotes creative thinking, develops applied knowledge, supports the development of language skills and promotes life-long learning. The main objectives were to increase the level of internationalisation of students and staff and develop foreign language and communication competencies to participate more actively in other mobility programmes and teaching activities in English. By the completion of outgoing mobility activities aims were reached on personal and institutional level. Staff participants were involved from different functional areas to gain the highest achievements on organizational level. For example good practices learnt connected to integration of migrants into the local society was a hot topic of the project. This approach helps to make the staff to be more conforming and unprejudiced and the low level embeddedness of the college into the local society could be increased (e.g. Romany people). To follow the current educational trends the participation of students in learning abroad programmes and staff in exchange programmes is a key task.
Summary of bilateral results
The cooperation between the Hungarian promoter and the Norwegian partner institution was based on an existing partnership founded by BUSINET. This organization was established in 1987 by a group of higher education business institutions keen to develop international programmes in business and to promote opportunities for Institutes of Higher Education, their staff, and their students. The expected results of the project were the increasing level of cooperation, the increased shared results, the improved awareness and knowledge. At the early stage of the project these effects were easy to identify but afterwards, when the partner institution and later the promoter institution went over organizational transformation (merge) the progress in strengthening bilateral relations had stopped. We hope we manage to rebuild the latter level of partnership between Pallas Athene University and HVB regardless the new structure and institutional functions. Bilateral cooperation is a key to the competitive programmes on research and education. Before the reorganization, College of Szolnok and Buskerud University College were active member institutions of BUSINET maintaining active partnership during the academic years. The BUSINET is a platform to share experiences, networking, emerging new ideas, enhancing teaching methods, etc. The project helped to foster more active connection and gaining higher results in the mentioned fields. The Preparatory Visit helped to find out the possible educational programmes to promote to students and the main fields of teaching and job shadowing for staff mobility. The bilateral funds contribute to strengthened bilateral relations at the project level. During the project implementation phase the promoter institution maintained the project management activities, was keeping contact to the partner institution, was promoting the project to the students and staff, was disseminating the achieved results to the decision makers and end users and was providing visibility. The partner institution supported the promoter to complete the outgoing staff and student mobilities. The mobilities were fruitful, the planned aims had been achieved and some of the best practices have been implemented into the everyday operations of the promoter institution.