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Description
Mobility of Polish students to the DPP universities.
Summary of project results
First of all, it should be noted that the project was needed because of the strengthening of bilateral relations between Poland - University of Gdansk and Iceland - University of Iceland, and between Poland - University of Gdansk and Norway - University of South East Norway, mainly in the field of education. It can certainly be said that the challenge the project was meant to solve was to reduce the economic gap. Polish students, for the most part, would not be able to afford to live on their own resources in Iceland during a two-month internship.
The main objective of the project was to increase mobility from Poland to the Donor States. The number of students from Poland participating in the higher education mobility project was 6, while the number of staff from Poland participating in the higher education mobility project was 4.
The project gave students the opportunity to work with new animal species and to learn about marine ecosystems different from the Baltic Sea. It also gave them access to high quality practical training (the host university placed great emphasis on inclusive education) and an opportunity to improve their language skills. The two-month internship gave the students the opportunity to make international contacts that may be of importance in their later careers. The internship in Iceland was also an effective school of self-reliance for the students and gave them the opportunity to visit distant places and learn about a foreign culture. The internship at the University of Iceland is not only a great experience that strengthens our students'' CVs and allows them to stand out in the job market, but also teaches independence and allows them to make international friends and lifelong acquaintances.
The university teachers participating in the mobilities, meanwhile, have gained new experience through the opportunity to teach multilingual and multicultural groups, which may also become our reality in the face of a dynamically changing political situation. Our lecturers have been inspired by the use of e-learning as a remedy for low enrolment in master''s programmes (a phenomenon that the Norwegian centre has had to face and which is also a challenge for our University).
Both students and lecturers had the opportunity to experience life in the Far North, which is shaped by wildlife, contrasting light and weather conditions, geographical distances and multiculturalism.
Summary of bilateral results
The benefits of having a participating institution from the Donor States are evident. The cooperation has led to improvements in the knowledge of students as well as lecturers. As Polish migrants make up the largest national minority in Iceland, the practices developed over many years of training students to work with multicultural families can be directly translated into both didactic work with students at UG and academic work on the linguistic development of children with a Polish cultural background living abroad. Among other things, issues of didactic cooperation were raised during the visit - the possibility of employing an expert in Scandinavian literature at UG as a university professor was discussed. Arrangements were made to organise some online classes in subjects taught in Norwegian (piloted in the current academic year).