ACTIVITIES TO ACHIEVE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE ERASMUS+ PROJECT “LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA” (MHELM)

The funding of an Erasmus+ international project is of course a success, but its implementation requires a good team, which through effective and efficient collaboration carries out the activities proposed in the project. In particular, it requires a lot of collaboration and understanding within an international team, a lot of persistence in carrying out the activities and achieving the results promised in the project. But what happens after the completion of a project, how to continue, what kind of activities assist the sustainability of the results achieved in the project?

These discussions were the main topic of the study visit to the city of Regensburg, Germany carried out in the framework of the Erasmus+ project “Leadership and Management in Higher Education in the Republic of Moldova”/ MHELM, reference no. 609656-EPP-1-2019-1-MD-EPPKA2-CBHE-SP. The team was a large one, 20 people, composed of rectors, vice-chancellors, managers of different university levels, university professors.

The agenda of the visit was full of academic and cultural activities. The visit started with an introduction to the city, a UNESCO World Heritage city, a city in eastern Bavaria, located at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate sub-region of the southern German state, with more than 150,000 inhabitants.

On the way to the first destination on the agenda – the MINT centre, we were introduced to the city centre, the old town, full of beautiful, carefully preserved buildings. The MINT study centre stands for mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology. In MINT-Labs Regensburg, children as young as 8 years old can experiment and try out interesting things that allow them to better understand the world around them. The focus is on the fun and enjoyment of all MINT-related subjects, be it technology, electronics, crafts, mathematics, pharmacy, physics, programming, chemistry, biology or art. The rooms were packed with young scholars of various ages.

The first academic meeting was with Lisa Unger Fischer (Managing Director, Europaeum, University of Regensburg): Europaeum Centre – East-West at the University of Regensburg. This meeting allowed the team to get acquainted with the university’s Strategic Plan for Internationalisation, the process of university collaboration to develop this plan.

The agenda, of course, was full of activities, which had the aim – to form a vision and a plan for sustainability of the Training Programme “Leadership and Management” developed within the MHELM project. First of all, the main results of the project were presented: the development and teaching of the Training Course “Leadership and Management”, which was attended by 258 university managers from universities in Moldova. The theme of the project is currently in vogue. Thus, our team was introduced to the results of the activities of the analogous project “Sustaining HE Leadership Development in Morocco: A National Scholl for HE Leadership” through presentations by Karim Moustaghfir from Al Akhawayn University.

Other academics from Slovenia, Andrej Koren and Nada Trunk presented “Education Development in Slovenia: National Scholl for Education Leadership”. Stephen Marston and David Dawson spoke about the UK Higher Education Leadership Foundation’s support for leadership development in higher education. Ilya Fadjar Maharika from Universitea Islam Indonesia and Ika Agustina from the organisation Pemimpin presented to the team about supporting leadership development in Indonesia.

The agenda of the study visit to the Institute for Social Science Consulting in Germany, one of the MHELM project partners, created conditions and atmosphere for discussions and elaboration of a process on the sustainability of the MHELM project results. The team work, led by UOG colleague David Dawson, was full of information and experiences, discussions and activities that allowed the team to arrive at a series of proposals whose realization will lead to the sustainability of the Leadership and Management training for higher education institutions in Moldova.

Our big team from Moldova expresses cordial thanks to the EU team for organizing the study visit to Regensburg!!! Special thanks to our colleagues from ISOB, Alice Buzdugan and Alexander Krauss for a very useful agenda and the conduct of university activities dedicated to the MHELM project, but of course also for other meetings during the study visit, especially the meeting with the Mayor of Regensburg and the visit to BMW Centru.