The RISE project is built on two main assumptions:
- Higher education pivotal role in the society for the fulfilment of a sustainable growth and responsible citizenship from local to global levels.
- The increasing importance of adopting an international and entrepreneurial mindset to fill the gap between academia and industry, improving employability of graduates.
RISE aims at creating positive synergies between academia and the Kurdish society through the definition of a systemic approach where internationalisation and career development are embedded into a synergic approach on the medium-long perspective.
Starting point was the definition for each Kurdish HEI partner of RISE of a Roadmap for Internationalisation and a Roadmap for Employability, with the overall goal of setting priorities and areas for strategic improvement.
A consultative process was put in place in each Kurdish university, with the scope of engaging academics, administrative staff and students in the definition of HOW to reach agreed long-term objectives, WHO shall be in charge for the implementation of the actions, and WHEN these shall take place.
Areas for strategic improvement INTERNATIONALISATION
Areas for strategic improvement EMPLOYABILITY
The consultation was guided by the International Relation Office and the Career Development office at each Kurdish universities, leading to the development of institutional Roadmaps in the core areas of the RISE project, which set the road ahead for Kurdish institutions. The Roadmaps have undergone a process of validation and institutionalisation, presented publicly and signed by the university Presidents.
All that is outlined in the Institutional Roadmaps are crucial elements for the modernisation and institutional development of Kurdish universities. Indeed, the road towards social responsible universities, capable to act locally and globally, requires a strategic approach.
IRO and CDC can and shall work in synergy, to bridge university and post-university life of graduates, provide students with hands-on experience both nationally and internationally (internships, scholarships, funds for start-ups), forming partnerships with local and international organizations and companies. The ultimate goal will be to empower the universities to provide students with opportunities to develop competencies and global skills that may not be covered in traditional academic coursework.
Through an integrated and coordinated approach, the university will be able to exploit its full potential, make the best use of the available human and financial resources, create synergies between the offices’ tasks and results, and put in place an effective monitoring system to maximise impact at individual, institutional and local levels.
BENEFITS OF THE SYNERGIC APPROACH
RISE promoted a participatory approach in the Synergic Roadmap definition, to make sure it includes elements from both the internationalisation and career development and sinthetizes the lines of connections between the work of the two offices in a strategic and systemic framework.
The Synergic Roadmap is a model that serves the scope of generating synergies between internationalisation and career development at systemic level in Higher Education Institutions. It includes an overview of the Actors to be involved in the process and a number of Objectives to be reached. Each objective is related on the one side to Actions, and on the other side to the Expected Impact generated at institutional level. Actions outline the activities to be put in place to reach more than one Objective, in the logic of the synergic approach. As well, the overall impact on the university is generated by the capacity of institutions to reach more than one Objective.
The rationale of the Synergic Roadmap is to demonstrate that collaborative work and a participatory approach supports institutional development in a more coherent and comprehensive way.
