AGH UST representatives at the General Assembly of the Magalhães Network

The assembly gathered more than 50 representatives of higher education institutions from countries such as Argentina, Brasil, Chile, Colombia, the Czech Republic, the Dominican Republic, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Poland, Spain, and Sweden.

During the meeting, the participants discussed the most important challenges and changes in modern education and cooperation between Europe and Latin America in the post-pandemic reality. They also summarised past cooperation between the network partners based on an evaluation and statistics they had prepared earlier. Additionally, a series of interesting sessions and talks related to new projects, including those using European funds, took place. The AGH UST presented our successful summer school models, which have been organised for many years, and the experience and potential of our university in implementing such models, as well as selected examples of international collaborations. The meeting abounded with presentations of fascinating projects and good practices in the area of remote education, based on examples of Global Classroom – TEC Monterrey, the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) project from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (Colombia), and Language Exchange Reinvented: Student Centered Techniques from Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile. The second part of the General Assembly featured thematic workshops in the following fields: external funding of initiatives launched by Magalhães Network partners (including EU money), the broad area of remote education, and the aforementioned summer schools. In conclusion to the session, new network authorities and members of the Follow-up Committee have been elected, as well as the place for the next Assembly in 2024. This time, the presidency went to a European university, Politecnico di Torino, and the new President of the Magalhães Network is Professor Roberto Zanino from Turin.

Soon, within the Magalhães Network, the AGH UST will act towards the intensification of cooperation with universities in Mexico, especially with TEC Monterrey and the Instituto Politécnico Nacional, for example, within the Global Classroom project. Furthermore, we will foster our cooperation with universities in Chile, especially with: Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, and the University of Chile in the fields of summer school student exchange and possible cooperation with industry. We have plans to survey potential cooperation areas with Universidad del Norte and Universidad de los Andes in Colombia. Developing cooperation at this level will allow us to launch student and employee exchange programmes, and consequently to recruit students for at least one semester and for internships/work placements in cooperation with Polish companies. There is immense potential in the cooperation plans with Latin America, especially in light of recent geopolitical changes.

The Magalhães Network was established in 2005 and currently affiliates 20 European and 18 Latin American universities. The fundamental goal of the network is to foster academic exchange and interinstitutional cooperation between Europe, Latin America, and the Carribean. The Magalhães Network has been developing the SMILE student exchange programme, which facilitates mobility between partner universities. The AGH UST is the only Polish member of the network.