YPARD Europe says present at the SIMPLE project kickoff meeting in Prague

SIMPLE (Support of International Platform Merging Labour and Education) is an new EU project coordinated by the  Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences at the CULS ( Czech University of Life Sciences) in Prague.

The project has been running since October 2016 and will end in October 2019 with its main objective  to encourage cooperation between academic (HEIs) and professional sector in areas of agriculture and life sciences in selected Asian countries (Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand) .This is mainly geared at enhancing the employability of participating universities alumni.

The project aims at enhancing employability of the partner universities alumni by supporting networking and providing the link among graduates (alumni) and employers; establishing Alumni Centres and Platforms for Cooperation with Professional Sector; improving the curriculum of study programmes at HEIs in selected Asian universities; introducing compulsory internships leading to more practical knowledge and better skills of the alumni and enhancing soft skills of the Asian students.

The project is coordinated by (CULS Prague) and will be carried out with partner universities of Austria, Belgium, Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand and alonside project associates such as:  Erasmus+ Students and Alumni Association in Germany (ESAA), Erasmus Mundus Students and Alumni Association in Thailand (EMA), Young Professionals for Agricultural Development (YPARD), The European Alliance on Agricultural knowledge for Development (AGRINATURA), Southeast Asian Regional Centre for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture(SEARCA), and The Czech Forum for Development Cooperation (FORS).

The kickoff meeting,held in Prague on October 24th- 25th  sought to identify and create the best conditions to link the alumni with the professional sector in Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand and set up cooperation for the whole project period. 

Libuška Valešová the YPARD Europe coordinator represented YPARD at the meeting to discuss possibilities of cooperation within the project. During the three days of intensive discussions, the YPARD representative and other project associate from  FORS, partner universities, as well as the SIMPLE project main coordinators Petra Chaloupková Ph.D.  and Jana Mandíková, PhD.  shared  their practical experiences and visions regarding Alumni Centres, Career Centres, Internships and Platforms for Cooperation with the professional sector. The discussions resulted in the development of a clear framework of the project objectives, activities, organization management and cooperation between participating organizations.

It is also during this meeting that the  SIMPLE project was officially launched. The project will  facilitate the inclusion of Asian graduates to enter the job market and to the professional sector and enable further development with well-educated workforce ready for the real practical requirements.

Picture credit: SIMPLE