Inspired by the EU funded network of ‘Higher Education Reform Experts’ (HERE), the South African Association of Technical Universities (SATN) and 6 of its members, in cooperation with European partners, is launching and piloting a similar network in SA, comprised of two academic leaders from each partner university. The ‘HERE SA’ are strategically selected given their roles in overseeing and guiding teaching and learning strategies and with potential to be catalysts for change in the HE sector. The HERESA project will train and capacitate these individuals, enabling them to train other peers at the management level and to contribute to holistic higher education development to meet labour market and societal needs. The network will be instrumental, in the first instance, in supporting the SATN members to refine and revise their institutional strategies for teaching and learning. These key areas are: 1) strengthening governance and university leadership, particularly related to teaching and learning, 2) innovative curricula development, oriented towards the fourth industrial revolution (4IR), competence-based learning (CBL) and work integrated learning (WIL), and 3) entrepreneurship education in collaboration with industry partners. Technical assistance will be provided by EU partners from Italy, France, Sweden, Finland, Spain and Ireland, to support the SA partner universities to implement these strategies and train staff. In addition to facilitating cooperation, exchange of practice and training around these issues and advancing strategy development, the SA HERE network will be expanded at the end of the project and become an important dialogue partner with the Council for Higher Education (CHE) and a means to connect policy and practice more pragmatically and systematically in South Africa.

The project aims to build capacity to internationalise and transform higher education curricula by broadening student participation in the internationalisation process. The project is key as institutions are not prepared for curriculum internationalisation, which will become mandatory in the near future, particularly as physical student mobility is unable to reach a sufficient number of students in South Africa.iKUDU will develop and effect strategies to guide curriculum internationalisation through Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) virtual exchanges. COIL is a novel teaching and learning initiative that advances global competencies across shared multicultural learning environments using Internet-based tools and online pedagogies. Students in two countries use electronic communication to work jointly through virtual exchange. Noteworthy is the intentional development of intercultural communicative competence amongst staff and students. Working with a peer in another country, the lecturer facilitates the competencies and skills necessary to live and work in a multicultural, interconnected world through COIL virtual exchanges. The project will train 55 teaching staff to become experts in curriculum internationalisation and transformation, and COIL virtual exchange. They will be equipped to train additional COIL virtual exchange experts. During the project’s lifespan, 55 sustainable COIL virtual exchanges will be developed with European partner universities, in which 2625 South African students will partake.The impact of the project will be that all students at partner institutions will benefit from internationalised and transformed curricula. The 55 trained COIL virtual exchange experts, who will be competent to train future cohorts, will be a critical mass to ensure that in the longer term a substantive part of the student population at South African partner universities will be able to access international exposure through COIL virtual exchanges.

The ELEPHANT consortium consists of 6 SA and 2 EU HEIs that shar expertise and apply a transversal multidisciplinary holistic approach to empower research capacity in a One Health (OH) approach. Being reference for specific activities, participant’s leadership and responsibility for design and implementation of OH teaching will be enhanced. Creation of a virtual research platform aims at sustaining project information, OH educational and research results and practices and communication also beyond the project period and allows other SA or SADC Universities to share knowledge and expertise and values such as: Legal compliance, ethics, research integrity, inclusiveness.The involvement of associate partners shows connection with, and impact on society, through demand driven research and knowledge transfer, to communities, industry and policy makers.SA participants will improve their quality in teaching and research (training) by enforcing capacities in terms of better equipped laboratories, standardized methodologies and continuous interactions, within and beyond the project period, with all staff of other partners and graduate students. This will positively impact evidence based One Health interventions to improve health and welfare of animals and humans Ultimately, the SA HE institutions will improve their reputation in research by increasing publication numbers in high ranked scientific journals. Their impact on society will be focused especially towards policy makers by sharing data and strategies to put in place science based, and One Health focused, hazards (disease and pollutant) surveys, prevention and intervention/control and a reduction in the wildlife-livestock conflicts. The project will largely involve communities that will be engaged in participatory OH activities, and will benefit from increased hazard awareness and control. The latter to be facilitated in collaboration with industry.

The IMPALA project aims to set up a network of European and South African universities and educational organisations to respond to the needs in the South African higher education community. It aspires to develop clear and viable internationalisation strategies within the South African IMPALA universities to bring them up to par and give them a much needed head start for future international cooperation initiatives. The project seeks to bring the South African IMPALA universities to a more advanced level in terms of management and strategies of internationalisation through the training of staff and the strengthening of structures. The focus of the project is set on the following four strands of internationalisation 1/ Staff Training, 2/ Policy Development and Implementation, 3/Academic Issues, 4/ Mobility. The four strands which constitute the basis of the project are further divided into 5 specific themes: 1/strategies and site visits 2/Short term programmes (incl.summer schools) 3/internationalisation of the curriculum 4/project writing and management 5/ Mobility Toolkit. A large group of South African university staff (academics, university management, administrators) will be trained, participate in site visits, attend workshops, etc. Internationalisation university strategies and management structures will be defined and implemented according to the needs and nature of the partner university. Each of the 5 topics mentioned will be covered by 5 working groups. The project will produce an online Toolbox for Academics and Administrators on internationalization in all its aspects based on the outcomes and achievements of the project. The ultimate goal of the IMPALA project is to translate the policies and strategies into action, and to lay the foundation of a solid partnership of a European network of universities and a South African network of universities that will engage in consortium-to-consortium cooperation initiatives.

The FAIR project aims to design, develop and evaluate a Masters Course in the field of Energy Poverty Alleviation Technologies in South Africa. It will also develop innovative learning material that will offer students a tailored perspective, participating universities the chance to exchange best practises, modernize, renew and align their curricula towards innovative skills and competencies necessary to effectively address the urgent societal need of energy poverty.The Masters Programme encompasses the different sources of knowledge and experience required by the discipline. Also, beyond coursework, the program is structured around:- industry placement, in relevant businesses, government agencies, etc.- digital learning, to allow modern forms of learning, as well as to enable contribution from experts across the globe in the development of the program.-promote cooperation, exchange of know-how and good practices in the subject area between EU and SA HEIs.-establish viable synergies and links with industry players and public authorities in order to address their needs in specialized personnel, and enhance the employability of FAIR graduates.-contribute to local economic growth and social inclusionThese specific objectives will be achieved by:-Developing the Master degree in the area of Alleviating Energy Poverty Technologies;-The establishment of FAIR labs -Developing tailor-made VET courses to cover the immediate personnel training needs of the local, regional businesses and public authorities- Training the academic staff of SA HEIs - Community-level awareness raisingDespite South Africa’s governments’ ambitious plans towards energy poverty alleviation, there are no graduate programmes that prepare specialists in the field. The project responds to the urgent need for high-quality educational programs that produce ‘fit-for-job’ graduates and “reskill” energy industry professionals and public authorities’ personnel.