CULTURWB – Heilbronn University develops educational schemes with international partner universities
Künzelsau, October 2018. Ever since the international university research collaboration CULTURWB (Culture Western Balkans) which addresses the need for strenghtening the cultural tourism industry development in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro was started in October 2016, the project participants have collected a multitude of experiences. These have been addressed in a workshop, which took place in Sarajevo from October 18th to 20th, in the course of the international conference “Cultural Diversity: The Common Heritage of Humanity”, organized by the EU Info Centre to mark the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018.
The international research project is supported within the framework of the ERASMUS+ capacity building projects.
The respective line of funding supports cross-national collaboration initiatives aiming at the development of competences in university facilities of partnering countries with, e.g. new and innovative educational schemes. In the project meeting the current position has been assessed.
Presentations and discussions have focused on progress, recommendations regarding further development as well as future challenges. These are based on, e.g. the monitoring visit of Prof. Lauren Ugur of Heilbronn University to the partner universities in Bosnia Herzegovina in July. In addition to Prof. Sebastian Kaiser-Jovy, who plays a leading role in the research project on behalf of Heilbronn University, approx. 30 representatives of the twelve international partner institutions will attend.
Within the project, new educational schemes have been created already. In East Sarajevo, Banja Luka and Mostar a first generation of courses leading to a certificate have been established. These courses pertain to lifelong learning (LLL courses). In the future Bachelor and Master study programmes will be added. “I know much about our cultural heritage but I don’t know how to communicate it to tourists” one participant of the LLL courses said previously. Facing this lack of competences was one reason for initiating these courses which meet the need to strengthen the cultural tourism industry development in Western Balkans.
A positive monitoring report
The management of each of the universities involved are committed to the project and the participants are willing to strengthen their know-how in the above-mentioned areas. Docents and participants alike praise the online learning tools and the interactive lectures at the University of East Sarajevo which uses the Moodle platform. Multimedia rooms which have been equipped with funds of the CULTURWB project offer perfect training opportunities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In order to improve and further develop the educational schemes, changes have been agreed on and further recommendations’ have been made.
The CULTURWB network sees potential for improvement, e.g. regarding the timing and number of participants. In addition longer courses would be welcome. As with all project of this nature, funding plays a key role with regard to the long term success of the courses. Considering expected costs and contributions of participants, the budgeting needs to be analysed and planned carefully.
Prof. Sebastian Kaiser-Jovy: “Working in an international research consortium is of significance to Heilbronn University in many ways. Our experience in creating educational schemes in line with the market plays a role and can be discussed and applied with national and international partners. Moreover, this collaboration across different locations and university faculties (Heilbronn, Künzelsau) is trend-setting and contributes to developing it further. It also makes us an attractive collaboration partner in regional and nationwide projects of applied research.”
Wissenschaftlicher Ansprechpartner:
Contact: Prof. Dr. Sebastian Kaiser-Jovy, Business Administration and Culture, Leisure, Sports Management, Daimlerstr. 35, 74653 Künzelsau. Telefon: +49 7940 1306-245. E-Mail: sebastian.kaiser-jovy@hs-heilbronn.de, Internet: www.hs-heilbronn.de/sebastian.kaiser
Press contact: Stefanie König, Hochschulmarketing, Daimlerstr. 35, 74653 Künzelsau, Telefon: 07940-1306-182, E-Mail: stefanie.koenig@hs-heilbronn.de, Internet: www.hs-heilbronn.de/tw