CTU reunites with ‘FRIENDS’ in Poland

CTU attends a five-day Erasmus + FRIENDS project meeting at Politechnika Śląska (Silesian University of Technology)  in Gliwice, Poland.

A consortium of higher education institutions around the globe led by Bulgaria’s Varna University of Management (VUM) showed sustainability efforts toward intercultural awareness during the Erasmus-backed meeting on July 3rd through 8th at Politechnika Śląska (Silesian University of Technology) in Gliwice, Poland.

VUM’s goal was to keep updated with the implementation of the project, Furthering International Relations Capacities and Intercultural Engagement to Nurture Campus Diversity and to Support Internationalization at Home (FRIENDS), and further its activities that began before the pandemic. Erasmus + FRIENDS is ending this year, and it is hoped that another unfolds for 2023.

CTU Internationalization and ASEAN Integration (IAI) Director Rhodora Magan and FRIENDS project leader Ronald Galindo met with other members, who primarily delved into intercultural strategies to gain more engagement from stakeholders.

Operating a teahouse, among many, was considered one of the best ways to draw students, faculty, staff and the community for meaningful interactions that essentially results in sustainable internationalization practices.

Another was emphasizing on the course through which interested parties could gain intercultural passport after uploading the final task—a digital story, that can possibly earn them a spot in next year’s boot camp.

Sharing ideas between and among universities like Malaysia’s Asia Pacific University of Innovation and Technology, Poland’s Silesian University of Technology, Thailand’s Payap University and VUM opened more international opportunities for CTU students and faculty.

Apart from dialogues were special immersive explorations of places like Krakow where members gained more inputs about the country’s rich history.

Moving forward, the group is hosting an in-person international conference in Bhutan in October. IAI