Brussels, 04/10/2007 (Agence Europe) - Less than a year after the signature of a new 8-year EU-Canada agreement in higher education, vocational training and youth, the European Commission and the Canadian authorities are launching 11 new transatlantic projects as of October 2007.
The amount of €1.4 million invested by the European Commission in the European part of the consortium will be matched by the Canadian government for the transatlantic partners. All these projects are transatlantic partnerships between at least four higher education institutions (a minimum of two institutions from Europe and two from Canada) and/or vocational training organisations. They all involve transatlantic mobility of students in the framework of jointly designed study/training programmes, underpinned by appropriate arrangements for mutual credit recognition, language and cultural preparation, and the necessary services and facilities. The projects last for three years and their aim is to develop joint study programmes as well as mobility schemes for 650 European and Canadian students and academic staff members. The projects will cover a number of important and innovative areas such as molecular chemistry, bioenergy, multi-agent robotics, safety and security management as well as food science and technology. Two of the projects focus on small and medium-sized enterprises, and one project concentrates on enhancing educational and employment opportunities for people with disabilities. The 11 selected projects involve 30 European universities/training institutions from 15 member states and 31 Canadian universities/training institutions from nine provinces. Member states most represented in these consortia are France (5), the United Kingdom (4) and Germany as well as Ireland (3 each). Since the inception of the programme in 1995, some 280 European and Canadian institutions have participated in 42 joint projects. More than 3,000 students have so far spent a transatlantic study period in Europe or Canada. (il)