CRUCH and OBREAL develop a seminar to share good practices in the field of research and international academic cooperation

09/10/2019
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  • CRUCH and OBREAL develop a seminar to share good practices in the field of research and international academic cooperation
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The general secretary of the Council of Rectors, María Elena González, assured that promoting collaboration between institutions "contributes to improving the quality of universities and making more substantive contributions to community life and local development."

For her part, OBREAL's international project coordinator, Elizabeth Colucci stated that “for these projects to have an impact, it is essential to work with actors such as CRUCH, which not only helps us to identify Chile's needs in the education sector, but also which is also a link between universities and public policy ”.

With members of institutions of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH), the Observatory of European Union - Latin America Relations (OBREAL) and the Colombian Association of Universities (ASCUN), the International Seminar "Management of the university research, international cooperation and local development ”.

The activity, organized jointly by the three associations, was carried out at the Central House of the University of Chile, with the aim of identifying good practices that make it possible to promote internationalization strategies in the academic and research fields, through analysis compared from experiences.

This working day was led by the secretary general of CRUCH, María Elena González, and the coordinator of international projects of OBREAL, Elizabeth Colucci.

The general secretary of the Council of Rectors valued this instance of multinational dialogue, because "one of our lines of work is to design and implement actions that promote the internationalization of our universities, that is why we are interested in strengthening ties with other academic institutions in Latin America and Europe" .

González added that “although our study houses operate in very diverse national contexts, they also face similar challenges both institutionally and in their relationship as the community. We believe that promoting cooperation between institutions, collaborative research and the exchange of good practices in academic management contributes to improving the quality of universities and making more substantive contributions to community life and local development ”.

For her part, the OBREAL international project coordinator stated that for the organization it is a priority "to share practices and links between universities in Europe and Latin America, for the development of common interests in both regions."

In this context, Colucci affirmed that “for these projects to have an impact, it is essential to work with actors such as CRUCH, which not only helps us to identify Chile's needs in the education sector, but is also a link between universities and public policy ”.

Also participating in the seminar were Elizabeth Bernal, academic director of ASCUN; Álvaro Maglia, Secretary General of the Association of Universities of the Montevideo Group (AUGM); Rafael Llavori, Director of International Relations of the National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA) of Spain; Magnus Lindqvist, advisor for Latin America at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) of Sweden; Gonzalo Arenas, Director of International Relations of the University of Talca; Germán Moyano, Coordinator of International Relations at the University of Cuyo, Argentina; and the former rector of the University of Aysén, Teresa Marshall; among other researchers and academics from Chile and abroad.

International cooperation initiatives

This international seminar is part of the agenda of actions linked to the MIMIR Andino and Vita Global projects, in which Latin American universities participate and which are sponsored by the “Erasmus+ Capacity Building” program, with support from the European Union.

Participants from both initiatives have been in Santiago since Monday for working meetings, which will conclude this Friday, October 11.

In the case of MIMIR Andino, the CRUCH (Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities) is represented by the University of Bío-Bío, the University of Aysén, and the University of Antofagasta. Institutions from Colombia, Peru, Spain, Italy, and Sweden are also participating. The objective is to modernize university management of innovation and research in South American countries, based on European best practices.

The Vita Global project, meanwhile, includes countries such as Argentina, Uruguay, Spain, France, Italy, and Portugal, among others. Chile and the CRUCH (Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities) are represented by the University of Chile and the University of Talca, with the aim of fostering the transfer of expertise between universities and cooperating for the development of the wine industry.