A piece of culture, a culture of peace

Project facts

Project promoter:
VALAHIA UNIVERSITY OF TARGOVISTE
Project Number:
RO15-0053
Target groups
Students,
Teachers, trainers, managers, leaders and other staff within higher education institutions
Status:
Completed
Initial project cost:
€98,680
Final project cost:
€90,617
From EEA Grants:
€ 73,400
The project is carried out in:
Dâmboviţa

Description

This project's summer school system of Nordic and Baltic studies is the only one of this kind in Romania and aims to make connections between the academic offer and the labour market. The objective is to develop teaching modules in areas with a strong interdisciplinary component and contribute to strengthening the higher education cooperation between Romania and Norway and to increase higher education staff mobility between Norway and Romania. The project trains specialists in the field of Nordic and Baltic studies and promotes these cultures and languages in Romania, while focusing at the same time on the culture of peace. It gathers specialists with different backgrounds, but similar interests, thus facilitating further cooperation. The outputs are a good practice guide to prove the transfer of expertise between staff members, the publishing of course syllabi, and a student blog of culture and civilization based on the acquired knowledge, including job offers in the field. The direct target group is 50 university students at bachelor’s level from Romanian universities. The Norwegian partners are the Universities of Agder and Oslo, and the Norwegian Public Broadcasting Company, which send lecturers, offer expertise, and reflect on a joint strategy for the future sessions. The partnership will offer knowledge transfer in teaching methods and strengthen the organizational side. It will also increase the interest Romanian students have in the Nordic cultures and languages.

Summary of project results

The project started from the idea that Romanian teenagers have fragmentary and distorted knowledge on the social, economic, cultural and political developments in Scandinavia and on the connections, relationships and transfers between this region and the Romanian area, while knowledge about the Baltic countries is scarce. The Summer School aimed to change this reality, by offering Romanian students the opportunity to participate in and observe the dynamics of cultural, social, political, economic developments in the Nordic states, as well as help the teenagers become acquainted with the languages used in the Nordic and Baltic states. Among the expected outputs numbered a good practice guide to prove the transfer of expertise between staff members, the publishing in The Romanian Journal for Baltic and Nordic Studies , a course syllabi and an international workshop “A piece of culture, a culture of peace”, to which the students could also participate, as well as a student blog of culture and civilization based on the acquired knowledge, including job offers in the field. The learning outcomes referred to the acquisition of knowledge, skills and competences in the field of Nordic and Baltic studies in the case of the students, but also the acquisition of innovative methods of teaching in the case of the Romanian staff due to the transfer of expertise with the Norwegian partners. The course modules, the seminars, workshops, debates and visits contributed to the opening of cultural horizons, making young people aware of the linguistic diversity, and understanding the interaction, but also the differences between Romanians and the Nordic peoples.

Summary of bilateral results

The project was able to achieve an acquisition of knowledge, skills and competences for the students involved in the Nordic and Baltic studies, as well as the acquisition of new methods of teaching for the Romanian staff involved. The institutional relations with the two Norwegian universities, the University of Oslo and the University of Agder, have been strengthened. This has taken place both in terms of education and research. At the educational level, members of the academic staff and researchers from the two partner institutions delivered courses, organized workshops and cultural events, exhibitions, etc. They also participated in the project conference. This serves as a basis for further cooperation with the Norwegian side, and, indeed, at the Sixth annual international conference on Baltic and Nordic Studies in Romania. The presence of Norwegian speakers sent by the partner International Summer School of the University of Oslo was outstanding. Moreover, Norwegian diplomatic representatives attended the events organized during the two sessions of the summer school and the press in the two countries summarized and commented on the events.The project contributed to the training of speakers for all the Nordic and Baltic languages, which is deemed to have an important impact on the relations between Romania and the Baltic and Nordic countries in the future. Moreover, the programme gave the participants the skills they need to succeed as specialists in Nordic and Baltic fields. The non-degree certificates the participants received allows them to update their résumés. Cultural institutes, the media, private institutions, publishers, etc. will benefit from the contribution of these persons ready to connect themselves with the speakers of these languages in the Baltic and North Sea areas.