Coordination Meeting and Open Conference in the frame of Erasmus+ BOOST Project

On 20-21 of November, the coordination meeting of the Erasmus+ BOOST Project /Boosting Armenian Universities’ Internationalisation Strategy and Marketing / and the open national conference on the topic of “HE Internationalisation on national level” was held at the American University of Armenia.

The Coordination meeting was attended by the Partners from Armenia and EU, particularly, Khachatur Abovian Armenian State Pedagogical University, American University of Armenia, University of Shirak, Vanadzor State University after H.Tumanyan, Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan, the Ministry of Education and Science of Armenia, National Information Centre for Academic Recognition and Mobility, as well as representatives of the EU partner universities from Spain, Estonia, Sweden, and Portugal.

During the meeting, the ASPU Head of Department of International Cooperation Kristina Tsaturyan introduced the project achievements, further activities, and the national strategy outlines of Higher Education internationalization.

The coordination meeting launched with the opening speeches of AUA Assistant Vice-President, Anahit Ordyan and AUA Provost Dr. Randall Rhodes. They welcomed all the participants in AUA and briefly introduced the purpose of the meeting and the importance of internationalization for Armenian higher educational institutions. Particularly, they emphasized the vital role of the coordination meeting to coordinate and manage further activities within the Project.
The next day started with the opening of national open conference. Representatives of the Armenian Universities attended the conference to discuss the HE Internationalisation Strategy, priorities of the Republic of Armenia in that field. The open conference was launched by welcome speeches of AUA provost Mr. Randall Rhodes, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of RA Vahram Mkrtchyan, ASPU Vice-Rector Ara Yeremyan and National Erasmus office coordinator Lana Karlova.

Anahit Ordyan from American University of Armenia presented the rationale, aims and objectives of the Project. Furthermore, Madli Krispin, Rui Mendes, Vicenc Fernandez, Maura Lerga Feilp and Mirko Varano introduced the internationalization strategies, perspectives and strategic aims in Estonia, Portugal, Spain and Sweden respectively.

Afterwards consortium partners together with extra-consortium Armenian HEIs representatives participated in world café method discussion. All the participants were split into 4 groups and each group joined facilitators determined beforehand during the coordination meeting:

1. Creation of an international environment and integration of an international dimension into the curriculum (joint degree programs, joint delivery of modules with foreign partners, language proficiency…)

2. Strengthening the ties with the Universities and research organizations outside Armenia