Among many communities in the EU and beyond, disasters pose significant concerns and challenges, and are an issue that requires international cooperation and solutions. In the last three decades, records of natural disasters show that Asia experiences the most disasters. A major contributory factor to disaster risk is capacity. Capacity development is a widely recognised priority in the disaster resilience field, and research cooperation can provide significant opportunities for realising its benefits. Strengthening the capacity of countries in Asia to do and use research is widely viewed as vital for meeting long term innovation in creating disaster resilience societies. ASCENT (Advancing Skill Creation to ENhance Transformation) aims to ensure that the targeted HEIs in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Thailand have the research and innovative capacities to tackle the challenges associated with developing societal resilience to disasters. ASCENT will: 1) identify research and innovative capacity needs across partner country HEIs to tackle the development of societal resilience to disasters; 2) develop research infrastructure to support implementation of the project and provide sustainable capacity development within the partner HEIs ; 3) prepare researchers in the identified Asian countries to undertake advanced, world-class and innovative, multi- and inter-disciplinary research that will contribute to increased societal resilience to disasters; 4) Increase international cooperation by partner HEIs on research programmes that tackle ways to increase societal resilience to disasters; 5) explore, promote and initiate opportunities for fruitful university / industry partnerships to increase societal resilience to disasters; and 6) publicise the project progress, successes and outcomes as far as possible, and raise awareness across the field of HE about capacity building for disaster resilience research.

The overarching aim of SECRA is to contribute to more resilient communities in Asia through institutionalized, systematic, monitored, innovative, and inclusive university–enterprise collaboration (UEC) in climate change action and disaster resilience (DR). The main problem targeted by SECRA is the ad hoc, episodic quality of UEC in the field of DR in many Asian countries, which are disproportionately affected by consequences of climate change. We are aware that there is no simple answer to the wickedness of climate change consequences or resilience; we are claiming, however, that facilitating systematic, institutionalized, inclusive (in terms of gender parity) and monitored UEC is part of a solution. High quality, entrepreneurial collaborative activities between universities and industry facilitate the exchange of scientific knowledge, practical skills and good practices, which otherwise remain siloed. SECRA deals with the problem at hand in a sequential fashion. The project’s contribution to more resilient communities is through increasing the capacity of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to initiate, manage, maintain, and benefit from UEC. The institutionalization and systematization of UEC are addressed in WPs 1, 2, and 3, innovation in WP4, and monitoring in WP5. SECRA will produce, inter alia, material towards eventual change of policies governing collaborative activities in partner countries; a relation framework to understand UEC; an online platform for a Community of Practice (CoP) consisting of HEIs, public sector and enterprise actors; a corporate start-up lab and networking activities in partner HEIs, and a monitoring tool to assess the quality of UEC that can be broadly contextualized for use in HEIs worldwide.

MARCO POLO addresses the needs of partner countries (Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia) to foster the international cooperation of their Universities (HEI). Its main objectives are: to increase the capacities of non-European countries HEI in international cooperation, to contribute to the improvement of international networking; and increase and exploit the potentials in Teaching, Learning & Research (TLR).The activities within the project foresee the strengthening of strategic, infrastructure and human capacities in the 6 HEI from Partner Countries as a model for the development and modernisation of institutional management of international cooperation in NEC.Specific objectives will be achieved through carefully planned actions at an institutional, national and multi-regional level, including the implementation of training and strategic infrastructure; comparative studies and the development of National Recommendation to boost international cooperation in TLR; the creation of a best practice book for HEI on how to improve International Relations policies and management. These actions will be complemented throughout the project life by dissemination and networking activities, including National Roundtables, seminars, networking conferences and a multi-regional educational fair. The consortium includes 10 institutions, of which 3 are European HEI with a vast experience in international cooperation and 6 are HEI in NEC that face challenges on the development of international cooperation strategies.The project also foresees a library gateway, the creation of Strategic Development Plans for HEI of NEC and the testing of products through cooperation and a pilot mobility. The results will be easily transferrable at a regional, national and international level.

The TEAL2.O project is implemented by a consortium of 11 universities – 3 in Sri Lanka, 3 in India, 2 in Thailand, 3 in Europe, joined by a consultancy company. 1 higher education network in Sri Lanka and 6 PC Universities support us as associated partners. Improving access to Science and Technology (S&T) higher education is top priority in Sri Lanka, India and Thailand. Increasing Gross Enrollment Ratios and reaching underrepresented and disadvantaged groups requires investing serious effort into Open and Distance Learning (ODL). Yet, ODL and increased access, especially in resource-poor institutions, pose many quality-related challenges resulting from shortages of expertise, technological equipment, collaboration and internationalization. We aim to contribute to addressing these challenges and facilitate access to higher education through a comprehensive technological solution. We will develop and deploy an open-access platform for technology-enabled learning environment that will enable the design and delivery of quality ODL in S&T higher education. The TEAL2.O platform will have the following benefits:- modularity and full customizability, allowing institutions and faculty to design programs and develop teaching content that suit local needs and constraints, including those of underrepresented learners- unlimited possibilities for collaborative learning and teaching, allowing institutions to pool available expertise and support quality- learner-centred education, flexible learning pathways and co-creation on the part of learners- open source hardware and software integrated into the learning process to maximize learners’ exposure to technology and provide access to virtual labs and experimentationWe will train staff, faculty and students to use and develop the platform, and will establish 8 university Centres to provide user support and promote the exploitation of TEAL2.O, in the long run helping it to grow into a self-sustainable learning network.

Internationalisation is one of the pressing issues for South-East Asian HEIs: Mission & Vision statements, as well as Strategic Plans confirm the strong will of the HEIs in the Region to strive for Internationalisation for the sake of students & graduates. Ministerial & Regional policy documents, too, advocate Internationalisation as priority for individual countries & the Region.What HEIs & policymakers lack are the core Recognition Mechanisms:- RM1 Regional Subject-Specific Qualifications & Assessment Reference Frameworks,- RM2 Measuring Full Volume of Student Workload as part of Programme Planning, &- RM3 Authentic Assessment of Programme Learning Outcomes.To address this gap, CALOHEA brings together 26 HEIs from 8 SEA Countries (Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand & Vietnam), AUN-ACTS Network, AUN & 5 EU partners highly experienced in creating & helping HEIs adopt the 3 core RMs. University of Groningen & ASEAN University Network act as Project Coordinators &, together with all the Partners, will work to achieve the following:- create & install RM1-3 in 3 pilot areas – Civil Engineering (a door to the Engineering sector), Medicine (a door to the Health sector) & Teacher Education (a door to Social Sciences)- train Teams of Champions for Recognition & Internationalisation in 26 SEA HEIs- reach out to all ASEAN & many more SEA HEIs to encourage regional adoption of the 3 RMs &, thus, help any SEA HEI in Internationalisation efforts.Students & graduates will be direct beneficiaries, since RM1-3 will considerably facilitate mobility & employment. HEIs & their academic & administrative staff will be equipped with the tools to achieve higher level of Internationalisation. Policymakers, &the Region as a whole, will obtain the foundational tools and the Champions necessary to make a serious step forward in articulating a common HE Space and increase mobility among the SEA countries, as well as between SEA and other world regions