News | Wednesday, 3rd October 2018
Vietnamese universities inspired through unique collaboration
Delegation visits Manchester Metropolitan as part of a funded partnership project
Manchester Metropolitan welcomed visitors from three Vietnamese universities on September 24, as part of the innovative Sustainability Alliance of Urban Networks in Asian Cities (SAUNAC) project.
The project, which is a partnership funded by the European Union’s ERASMUS+ programme between five European and six Vietnamese universities, is designed to build the capacity of the universities in Vietnam and their stakeholders to educate professionals and students to develop viable solutions for smart sustainable cities.
Valuable collaborations
During their visit to Manchester Metropolitan, the Vietnamese delegation found out more about the University’s research areas, innovative teaching methods and the ways the institution works with stakeholder organisations in relation to smart sustainable cities and entrepreneurship.
Russell Yates, Enterprise Development Fellow and project coordinator for the Manchester Metropolitan SAUNAC team, said: “The study visit was an opportunity to showcase our expertise and the sessions were extremely well received by academic and student visitors alike.
“The visit also stimulated much discussion with our academics about potential future collaborations between Manchester and Vietnam which are now being explored. This includes our expertise in Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology and Sustainable and Ethical Entrepreneurship, student projects and staff exchanges in Urban Ecology.”
The Vietnamese visit to Manchester coincided with four simultaneous study visits with the SAUNAC project’s European partner universities in Hamburg, Utrecht, Valencia and Turku.
60 academics and students travelled to Europe from Vietnam to participate in their chosen study visit to experience how universities in Europe operate. The ultimate aim of the visits is to help Vietnamese universities to build their own capacity to modernise the Higher Education system in their country.
Benefits of SAUNAC
As part of the SAUNAC project, the creation and delivery of a new Smart Sustainable Vietnamese Cities (SSVC) module is set to be embedded into the curriculum in the five Vietnamese partner universities.
Manchester Metropolitan is leading on the following three areas of the project:
- Stakeholder Engagement
- Entrepreneurship
- Dissemination
Courses in each area have been developed over the past 18 months and were piloted in Vietnam over the summer.
In helping to develop the SSVC course in ‘Sustainable Entrepreneurship’, Claire Baird, Senior Lecturer in Enterprise at Manchester Metropolitan, has found additional benefits to participating in the SAUNAC project.
Claire said: “As a lecturer and researcher in entrepreneurship, the SAUNAC project is providing a great opportunity for me to work with other educators to develop a tailored entrepreneurship course to suit the educational needs of Vietnamese students.
“The experience is very rewarding and linked closely to my PhD research which is focused on the experience and learning of international students engaging in entrepreneurial education.”
To find out more about the SAUNAC project visit www.saunac.eu.
