Internationalization at Home (IaH) is a concept gaining significance in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) worldwide, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. It focuses on integrating international and culturally diverse aspects into the whole on-campus experience, ensuring that all students benefit from exposure to different teaching and learning methodologies, global perspectives and intercultural discovery and exchanges regardless of their ability to study abroad.
Internationalization at Home initiatives encompass various strategies, such as infusing international content into curricula, promoting intercultural interactions, recruiting students and staff internationally, and incorporating global perspectives into research and scholarship. By adopting Internationalization at Home practices, Higher Education Institutions aim to enhance the quality of education and to make a meaningful contribution to the society preparing students for the global world, increasing their skills and employability.
The process of internationalizing at home, just as with other aspects of internationalization, is based on the capability of HEI to develop, deliver and assess it. HEIs are required to invest in development of their own leadership, institutional strategies, funding and involvement of stakeholders. Thus, staff development is a key factor in making success.
In the INTERBA project CESIE, along with partners HEIs from Germany, Italy and the UK, is providing support and training to 6 HEIs from the Western Balkans willing to adopt an Internationalization at Home approach in their institutions. Our joint goal is the setting-up of an internationalisation infrastructure in the region.
After a Gap analysis and a Knowledge capital assessment, HEIs from the Western Balkans worked on their internationalisation at home strategies and established a network of experts and developed a pedagogic model and a training package for their staff. Last year ‘Train the Trainers’ workshops online and training pilots in West Balkans HEI were conducted; a Moodle platform was created to host the e-learning opportunities developed.
In the next months partner will work to Sustainability strategy for the project outcomes. Work started during project meeting in Hamburg from 31 May to 2 June 2023, where an Action plan for sustainability was drafted with partners contributions, with specific provisions for the training and re-training courses and the e-learning platform, the pedagogic model and Train-the-Trainers workshop, and the network of the knowledge experts.
About the Project
INTERBA project is an Erasmus+ Capacity Building for Higher Education Project aiming to strenghten Internalisation at Home (IaH) implementation at partner HEIs in order to enhance the quality of education and make a meaningful contribution to the society.
Partners
- Coordinator: University of Tirana (Albania)
- Middlesex University (United Kingdom)
- Hamburg University of Technology (Germany)
- University of Cagliari (Italy)
- CESIE (Italy)
- European University of Tirana (Albania)
- University of Prishtina (Kosovo)
- University of Tuzla (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
- Dzemal Bijedic University of Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
- Universum College (Kosovo)
For further information
Read more about INTERBA, visit https://interbaproject.com/ and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
Contatta Alessia Valenti: alessia.valenti@cesie.org.
