The SMILE project is pleased to announce the successful submission of Deliverable D2.1 – Report on the Co-Creation Workshop under WP2 (Capacity Building through Training and Infrastructure Development) to the European Commission through the SYGMA platform.
This first technical deliverable represents an important milestone in the project’s capacity-building journey. Led by Middle East Technical University (METU), the report documents the outcomes of the co-creation workshop organised with all project partners in Ankara to jointly identify the training priorities and define the structure of the capacity-building programme for Somali Higher Education Institutions.
The report captures the needs identified during collaborative discussions and translates them into a structured training framework covering the project’s key internationalisation themes, including:
- Academic collaboration
- Staff mobility
- Inclusion strategies
- Private sector engagement
- Virtual mobility
By adopting a participatory co-creation approach, the consortium ensured that the future training activities directly respond to the institutional realities and priorities of Somali universities, laying a strong foundation for the implementation of the project’s objectives.
What comes next?
Following the completion of D2.1, the project now enters the implementation phase of WP2. Partners will begin developing the training materials and learning resources that will be used during the capacity-building programme.
The upcoming activities will include online and in-person training sessions delivered by the European partners, providing academic and administrative staff from Somali Higher Education Institutions with practical knowledge, tools, and methodologies to strengthen their internationalisation strategies, foster international partnerships, promote inclusive higher education, and enhance cooperation with the private sector.
The successful completion of this first WP2 deliverable marks another significant step towards achieving SMILE’s overall mission: supporting the internationalisation of Somali Higher Education Institutions and strengthening their integration into global academic networks.
