Tropentag, September 17 - 19, 2014 in Prague, Czech Republic "Bridging the gap between increasing knowledge and decreasing resources"

Czech Republic Development Cooperation in Moldova

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Fac. of Trop. AgriSciences, Czech Republic

Abstract

The project titled ''Support to increasing quality of education at the State Agrarian University of Moldova in Chisinau (SAUM)'' was formulated within the framework of a broader programme of Czech Development Agency as called „Mission of Czech teachers to developing countries - support to increasing quality of higher education in partner developing countries”; and its implementation started in the year 2012. The main (developing) aim of the project is to support the educational process, research and international activities at SAUM through a series of organisational, professional and material inputs, which will lead the quality of SAUM's main activities to European standards. The project activities focus on higher quality of education by improving pedagogic competences of SAUM's teachers, assistance at formulating new study programmes and support to Scientific-Pedagogic Laboratory, which was established and equipped by the previous project of development cooperation realised in 2006-2008. In the field of science and research the project outputs are focused on identification of the common research topics, formulation of a joint research projects and scientific publications, support of the students' research activities and retrofitting Bio-energy Laboratory, which was also established within previous project. The main topics of Czech lecturers are: Renewable Energy Sources and Bio-energy, Waste Management, Pedagogic and Didactic Competences of University Teachers, IT Programmes in Education, etc. The projects main focus in 2014 is certification of Bio-energy Laboratory. The reason is that Moldova is short in fossil fuels and provision of fuels of domestic origin is its vital interest; certificates will also give opportunity to Moldovan producers of biofuels to enter European markets. This certification will bring SAUM to prestigious and very important position in the country. The other outputs of the project are focused on international cooperation and the promotion of the project and SAUM. Organisation of a Summer School for Moldovan and Czech (some Polish) students is a remarkable activity and a contribution to SAUM's international renomé. Impact of the project is to improve low quality of Moldovan high agricultural education by better preparation of the agricultural experts; that should reflect in the Moldavian agriculture and rural development.

Keywords: Bio-energy Laboratory, education quality, project activities & outputs, SAUM, Scientific-Pedagogic Laboratory

Contact Address: Tatiana Ivanova, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Fac. of Trop. AgriSciences, Kamycka 129, 16521 Prague, Czech Republic, e-mail: ivanovaits.czu.cz