TOOLKIT Project

"Designing and Managing International Relations, Educational Projects and Mobility Schemes in Asian Universities "

TOOLKIT is a multinational project co-funded by the European Union in the frame of Erasmus+ Capacity Building Key Action 2: capacity building in higher education. The project consortium includes 3 EU universities and 7 Asian universities.

TOOLKIT’s main aim is the enhancement and modernization of the internationalization strategies undertaken by Universities in Laos, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. This will happen through mutual exchange of expertise and practices of internationalization in Asia and Europe.

The project seeks to develop an Asian own way to internationalization, which means refraining from the passive replication of foreign models and practices – as those that emerged in the European experience – with the aim of tailoring a peculiar methodology, consistent with the local culture and priorities.

Most notably, the project revolves around a series of more specific objectives, such as:

• The tailoring of innovative, transparent, and inclusive internationalization strategies by Asian universities, characterized by a strong emphasis on students and faculty members as the real protagonists and catalysts behind an effective modernization of local HES;
• The structuring of a process of ‘cascade trainings’ targeted at Asian IROs, which will be firstly ignited through a series of formation activities in the EU, and then disseminated on a national and regional level by reaching out to the more peripheral and less-internationalized universities. In doing so, three main dimensions will acquire a particular relevance, namely:
  • The drafting and realization of IR strategies;
  • The design and management of educational projects;
  • The design and management of mobility schemes;
• The consolidation of a diffuse and long-lasting engagement towards HE internationalization strategies in the three counties involved, capable of encompassing not only the academic community but also the local policymakers, economic stakeholders, and civil society;
• The establishment and nurturing of a network of European and Asian universities, so to share knowledge and good practices, while supporting the effective integration of the higher education systems of Myanmar, Laos, and Sri Lanka within a regional and global framework.

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• Project Period: 2019 – 2022
• Project Coordinator: Prof. Shameen Jinadasa
• Project Team Members: Prof. D.A.N. Dharmasena, Mr. Thusil Weerasekara
• Project Consortium:
  

  Region	Country	Partner Institute/s
  European Partners	Italy	University of Bologna
  	Sweden	Uppsala University
  	Lithuania	Vilnius University
  Asian Partners	Sri Lanka	University of Peradeniya
  		University of Kelaniya
  	Laos	National University of Laos
  		Souphanouvong University
  	Myanmar	University of Yangon
  		Yangon University of Economics
  		Yezin Agricultural University