The BASE (Bologna for Science Education in Palestine and Jordan) project is an Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education – Structural Measures project, co-financed by the European Commission and coordinated by An-Najah National University (Nablus). The project, which aims to reform higher education in Palestine and Jordan by strengthening the quality of degree programs and the international recognition of qualifications, has completed its first phase.
On July 3, all project partners, hosted by the Universidad de Barcelona, were able to meet to monitor progress. The meeting was held in hybrid format to facilitate those who unfortunately were unable to attend in person due to the ongoing conflicts.
Professor Maria Franzini, the project’s scientific coordinator for UNIPI, presented the activities carried out by our university, as outlined in Work Package 2, which we have coordinated.
These activities will be crucial for the next stages of the project. “The activities UNIPI completed – Maria Franzini underlines – aimed at assessing and evaluating the preparedness and capacity of Palestinian and Jordanian universities, as well as the Ministries of Higher Education of the two countries, to address the changes needed to adopt Bologna Process standards for their STEM programs, optimizing the quality of their higher education and promoting international mobility for their students and staff”.
“This initial assessment, the Gap Analysis – Maria Franzini continues – was conducted at both the teaching and legislative levels and is the result of excellent collaboration between the Pisa working group and those of the other project partners. In particular, I would like to emphasize that despite the difficulties that our partners, especially in Palestine, encounter in carrying out the planned institutional and research activities, their participation has always been constant and active, thus allowing the agreed actions to be completed within the project timeframe. From the needs analysis, we, in collaboration with CIMEA, have developed a Capacity Building Plan and a detailed report on the capabilities of each participant.
Giovanni Federico Gronchi, Pro-Rector for Cooperation and International Relations and supervisor of the BASE project activities, comments: “We can be very satisfied with this initial result. These documents represent the first official results of the BASE Project.
We are pleased to be able to place these documents, which will be strategic and fundamental for planning further actions, in the hands of our partners, so that each institution and both Ministries of Higher Education can advance towards alignment with the Bologna Process in an informed and fruitful manner”.
“These documents – continues Giovanni Federico Gronchi – constitute a meticulous analysis of the needs, challenges, and strengths of each of the institutions involved, so that their reform framework can adhere to the Bologna Process in a tailor-made fashion, so to speak, suitable for their specific needs and individual characteristics.”
