Workshop at University of Basel: Short report and presentations

On 10 February, a workshop at the University of Basel addressed the potential and challenges of learning mobility between the ‘Global South’ and the ‘Global North’. More than 30 stakeholders from universities, universities of applied science and other organisations in Switzerland and beyond met in order to exchange their experience, expertise and ideas. The event took place in the frame of the LEMONOC mid-term meeting.

The workshop was prefaced by short inputs by selected resource persons: Gerhild Tesak (University of Basel) discussed the added value of mobility from a student learning perspective; Axel Hoffmann and Bernadette Peterhans (both Swiss TPH) shared their institution’s experience with learning mobility within the a global network for postgraduate education and training (Network for Education in International, tropEd) and as a partner of a ‘South-South’ network on the PhD level (Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa, CARTA); Marianne Cox (EP-Nuffic) addressed the role of open online education for capacity building and access to education in the South; Karine Hindrix (University Colleges Leuven-Limburg/LEMONOC) introduced the rationale and outputs of the LEMONOC project; and James Otieno Jowi (African Network for the Internationalisation of Education, ANIE/LEMONOC) addressed benefits and potential but also risks and concerns associated with learning mobility from a ‘Southern’ perspective.

Presentations available for download:

Gerhild Tesak (Higher Education Didactics and Technologies, University of Basel, Switzerland): Influences on the Quality of Student Learning

Bernadette Peterhans (Deputy Head Teaching and Training, Swiss TPH, Switzerland): Learning mobility within a global network - quality assurance and lessons learned over the past 20 years

Axel Hoffmann (Head Teaching and Training, Swiss TPH, Switzerland): Participating in a South-South network as a Northern partner: research training (PhD) with African universities

Karine Hindrix (Project Coordinator, LEMONOC/University Colleges Leuven-Limburg, Belgium): LEMONOC: Strengthening the quality of learning mobility and cross-border cooperation

Marianne Cox (Policy Advisor, EP-Nuffic, Netherlands): Learning Mobility and Capacity Building: OOE in CP Programs in the Netherlands

James Otieno Jowi (Executive Director, African Network for Internationalization of Education/Moi University, Kenya): Learning mobility with the ‘Global North’: Expectations and experiences of sending institutions in Africa

The presentations were followed by working group sessions. These provided the opportunity to discuss the added value of student mobility, the building-up and fostering of partnerships as well as institutional enablers and obstacles for learning mobility between ‘South’ and ‘North’.

The workshop was organised by the International Office of the University of Basel, the Centre for African Studies Basel (ZASB), the Swiss Commission for Research Partnerships with Developing Countries (KFPE) and LEMONOC.