The National Academy of Public Administration Participates in the STRIVE Project Workshop: “Strengthening Internationalization of Vietnamese Emerging Universities”

The STRIVE workshop brought together all partner organisations and higher education institutions from Vietnam, Italy, and Portugal. The workshop focused on clarifying the specific requirements of the European Union regarding activities under Key Action 1 (KA1) – staff and student mobility, and Key Action 2 (KA2) –building capacity for higher education institutions.

In his remarks, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyễn Quốc Sửu emphasized that “Participation in and commitment to the Project’s objectives align with the Academy’s development strategy for the period through 2030, with a vision toward 2045. These objectives include enhancing the capacity of the academy’s staff, lecturers, and students through direct involvement in international activities; strengthening the capacity of administrative staff in project management; and, more importantly, fostering the internationalization capacity of the National Academy of Public Administration. This will create new opportunities for the Academy to promote and realize diverse international cooperation activities in the future. It constitutes a fundamental and essential condition for the Academy’s sustainable development, advancement, and effective engagement in bilateral and multilateral cooperation, thereby contributing to the improvement of programme learning outcomes at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and supporting accreditation processes in higher education.”

In 2023, the National Academy of Public Administration was one of the seven institutions submitting the STRIVE Project, which was subsequently approved and funded by the European Union through the Erasmus+ Programme. The Project aims to strengthen internationalization capacity, modernize international cooperation practices within Vietnamese universities, and enhance collaboration and connectivity between higher education institutions in Europe and Vietnam.

During the Academy’s working programme in Potugal from 12 June 2024, the delegation held discussions with Assoc. Prof. Dr. Simone Severini, Advisor to the Rector of the University of Tuscia, on international cooperation. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyễn Quốc Sửu reaffirmed the potential and opportunities for cooperation between the two institutions, particularly in staff and student exchange programmes, which have been outlined in a draft Memorandum of Understanding.

Through the national coordinating unit, Hanoi University, Ms. Đặng Thị Phương Thảo shared experiences regarding the advantages and challenges in implementing mobility activities and expressed her intention to support cooperation between the two institutions.

On the same day, the delegation also met with representatives of the University of Évora. Both sides agreed to explore and expand cooperation opportunities and to actively promote staff and student exchange initiatives. A follow-up meeting between the two institutions is expected to take place in Hanoi in September.

The STRIVE Project will be implemented over a three-year period, from 2024 to 2027. In the first six months of 2024, the National Academy of Public Administration completed the procedures for signing the Partnership Agreement with the AlmaLaurea Interuniversity Consortium, Italy – the international coordinating unit of the Project; collaborated with member institutions to develop, finalize, and publish the Project Quality Plan; and launched the project website at https://strive-project.eu; The draft dimension plan for the Project was also presented at the Workshop, aiming to widely disseminate Project outcomes and maximize outreach to staff, lecturers, and students at both participating and non-participating higher education institutions.