Contact
Educational Development Unit (EPU)
The Division of Learning and Digitalisation
Email
epu@slu.se
Global projects
Last changed: 05 March 2024
An important part of our business is our involvement in various international projects in collaboration with SLU Global. For many years, we have learned a lot through our participation in various SIDA-funded projects, especially in East Africa; Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and Mozambique.
Ongoing projects
Doctoral supervision online course
Date:
ongoing
EPU involvement:
Together with content from colleagues from universities in Sweden, Mozambique, Ethiopia, the United Kingdom....
Global Challenges University Alliance 2030 PhD course: “Sustainability in a globalized world”
Date:
Online course (Fall 2020 – Spring 2021) (prolonged to 2023)
Financing:
GCUA and SLU Global
Partners:
Global Challenges University Alliance (GCUA) members and SLU Global
The course is organized by the Global Challenges University Alliance (GCUA 2030), which is a network of university partners from across the globe with a common vision of contributing to sustainable, global development. The aim of this course is to allow students to familiarize themselves with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to get an understanding of their implications for higher education and research. The course will foster awareness and understanding of different perspectives and priorities regarding sustainability in its three dimensions – social, economic and environmental – based on e.g. cultural, geographic and scientific background and context. The course will also provide guidance on how to constructively identify and approach goal conflicts and discuss trade-offs and synergies central to achieving the SDGs.
EPU involvement:
EPU is responsible for Module 2: Intercultural competence and communication and Module 3: Education for Sustainable Development.
More information about this project.
Sweden – UEM Capacity Development, Quality Assurance in Research Training - QuART
Date:
2018 – 2022 (prolonged to 2025)
Financing:
Sida
Partners:
Universidade Eduardo Mondlane (UEM), Uppsala University, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
EPU involvement: EPU’s involvement includes the joint training of 100 doctoral supervisors as well 25 teaching staff in the delivery of generic skills course for Master and PhD students.
Academic collaboration between Chile and Sweden – ACCESS
Date:
ongoing
Financing:
Partners:
ACCESS aims to facilitate and deepen academic relations between Chile and Sweden in order to contribute to research excellence. Several other Swedish universities are involved, among them Lund University and Uppsala University.
EPU involvement:
EPU is represented in the ACCESS Educational Advisory Group (EAG).
More information about this project.
Sweden – Bolivia: Quality assurance in the training of researchers
Date:
2021 – 2025
Financing:
Sida
Partners:
Universidad Mayor de San Simón (UMSS), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and KTH Royal Institute of Technology
EPU involvement:
EPU’s involvement is focused on the capacity development of doctoral supervisors. Activities include the development and training of a core group of trainers for supervisors, who will in their turn plan and execute courses in doctoral supervision pedagogy at UMSS. Ultimately, these supervisor trainers will run tailored supervisor courses, fit to the context of UMSS, and train 50-60 doctoral supervisors by the end of 2025. In order to strive for increased equality and by doing so also trying to work to align this work to the goals of Agenda 2030, focus is directed to involve 40-60% females in both the training of trainers and participation in the doctoral supervision courses.
Completed projects
Massive Open Online Course (MOOC): “Sustainability in a Globalized world – tools and concepts”
Date:
Fall 2021
Financing:
STINT and SLU Global
The MOOC ”Sustainability in a globalized world – tools and concepts” will allow the students to familiarise themselves with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to get an understanding of their implications for higher education and research.
EPU involvement:
EPU is responsible for Module 2: Intercultural competence and communication and Module 3: Education for Sustainable Development.
Erasmus Mundus programme EMABG
Date:
ongoing
Financing:
European Union
The European Master in Animal Breeding and Genetics (EMABG) is an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree (EMJMD) co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.
The Educational Development Unit has a representative on the EMABG Quality Assurance Board.
ERASMUS+ DeVilag Capacity-Building Programme
Date:
Academic year 2021
Financing:
European Union
The EU co-funded Erasmus+ Project (DeVilag), titled "Steering Migration through Sustainable Development: Euro-Egyptian Program for Agriculture and Rural Development", aims to support the Egyptian rural community with qualified graduates, who can improve agricultural productivity and enable furthered sustainable food production. DeVilag is a collaborative project between European and Egyptian universities.
Partners:
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), RWTH Aachen (RWTH, Germany), University of Nicosia (UNIC, Cyprus). Egyptian universities: Cairo University, Fayoum University, Heliopolis University and the American University in Cairo. The project involves other relevant stakeholders and end-users in Egypt (Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Agricultural Research Center, Lotus for Organic Products, and ISIS for Food Industries LTD).
EPU involvement:
EPU is involved in the capacity development of teaching staff redesigning their curriculum. Activities will be carried out online as an adaptation to the Covid-19 pandemic.
More information about this project
https://www.devilag.eu/
Erasmus+ Up-skilling Agricultural Engineering in Europe (USAGE)
Date:
2019 – 2022
Financing:
European Union
Partners:
SLU (coordinator), Free University of Bolsen-Bolzano, The Technical University Munich (TUM), University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU)
Project description:
The main objective of USAGE is to enable smart, sustainable and inclusive growth through up-skilling, innovative pedagogic approaches and access to experience. Therefore the implementation of different modules regarding digital transformation as well as development of a curriculum of an international modularized lifelong learning Master will be carried out. A key element of USAGE is to encourage learning mobility between countries and disciplines –inspiring more engineers to choose a career within smart farming, and more agronomists to further specialize in technological subjects.
EPU involvement:
EPU is responsible for designing and delivering a training for partner university faculty involved in the development of the project´s new master program. The focus of the training will be on:
- Designing high quality courses: constructive alignment in theory and in practice
- Active learning and assessment
- E-learning: how to teach at a distance
- Teaching in the glocal classroom: internationalization, intercultural competences, and linking to the SDGs
- Developing materials for distance learning: multimodality and flipping the classroom
More information about this project.
Sweden – Ethopia Capacity Development
Financing:
Sida
Supervisor training – 1 week course, AAU
More information:
Erasmus+ Widening Interdisciplinary Sustainability Education
Date:
2016 – 2018
Financing:
European Union
Partners:
SLU, Agricultural University of Athens (Greece), Collegium Civitas (Poland) (coordinator),
Masaryk University (Czech Republic), University of Porto (Portugal)
Project description:
The main aim of the project was to organize an international interdisciplinary network of academic teachers and researchers that will work together to develop operational capacity of an integrated interdisciplinary y thinking about sustainable development. In addition, the project delivered useful innovative multidisciplinary tools to support development of environmental studies embedded in Sustainable Development in Higher Education. EPU supported the development of a manual for instructors interested in the integration of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) into the curriculum.
More information:
Manual publication:
Multiplier event at SLU:
Bangladesh
Swedish Institute Kuba
March 2018
“SLU: About the university”, SLU representative in Swedish Institute contact trip to Cuba
Sweden UDSM – Capacity Development
Date:
May 2017
Financing:
Sida
Partner:
University of Dar Es Salaam (UDSM).
Training delivered:
Workshop on teaching and supervision in higher education. The aim of this workshop was two-fold: 1) to improve the teaching and learning skills of participants, with a focus on curriculum design; and 2) to enhance supervision practices as a measure of quality assurance.
Content of the workshop included:
- Best practices in teaching and learning in higher education
- Constructive alignment as a method for course development
- Writing and assessing Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
- Web tools for teaching and learning
- Doctoral supervisory challenges & opportunities
- Helping PhD students navigate the transition to doctoral studies Date: December 2014Partner: University of Rwanda, Rwanda Date: 2013-2014Partner universities: SLU and Makerere University (Uganda) – main partner. Additional partners: National University of Rwanda (Rwanda), Sokoine University (Tanzania), Jomo Kenyatta University (Kenya).EPU engagement: EPU was involved in developing and delivering the following trainings for PhD students, teaching staff and doctoral supervisors:
- Project description:
- Financing: Ministry of Foreign Affairs (UD)
- Innovative Doctoral Education for Global Food Security
- EPU involvement: EPU was involved in developing and delivering a teaching and learning capacity development training for academic leadership.
- Financing: Ministry of Foreign Affairs (UD)
- Improving University Courses: Workshop for university leadership
- Teaching and learning in higher education for doctoral students,
- Improving and internationalizing university courses – a workshop for senior lecturers;
- Educational management development – workshop for educational leaders (collaboration with the University of Rwanda)
- Training doctoral supervisors – a cornerstone of quality doctoral education
More information:
Innovative-Doctoral-Education-Global-Food-Security-2013-2104.pdf
Strengthening Africa’s Strategic Agricultural Capacity for Impact on Development (SASACID)
Date:
July 2013
Financing:
Sida
Partners:
SLU and African Network for Agriculture, Agroforestry and Natural Resources Education (ANAFE) member universities
EPU involvement:
EPU carried out a series of trainings focused on enhancing quality of teaching and learning in higher education as part of the SASACID project. One training was developed for African francophone universities (Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Ivory Coast) and one in English for universities in East Africa (Joma Kenyatta University, Kenya)
More information:
Training on infusion of generic skills for RDViet network
Date:
July 2011
Financing:
Sida
Partner:
SLU Department of Urban and Rural Development, RDViet Network
Project Description:
Sida financed cooperation between SLU and universities in Vietnam for capacity building (education and research) in rural development and natural resource management.
EPU involvement:
Training of
UniCoop: Building Capacity for Macedonian Higher Education, Research, and Policy Analysis in Agriculture – with a focus on Agricultural Economics
Date:
September 2011
Financing:
Sida
Partner:
SLU Department of Economics, St Cyril and Methodius University (Macedonia)
EPU involvement:
In the framework of the SLU Department of Economics engagement in the UniCoop project, EPU delivered a full-day workshop called “Teaching and Learning in Higher Education” at St Cyril and Methodius University (Macedonia). The workshop focused how to enhance teaching practices by working with tools and resources to improve the planning, development and execution of lectures and also related supporting materials