Italian Higher Education with Africa (IHEA)

ITA | ENG

The University of Florence is a member of the “Italian Higher Education with Africa (IHEA)” Foundation, which was set up to promote the internationalisation of universities in Africa and to contribute to local development through cooperation.

The University of Bologna, the Politecnico di Milano, the University of Naples Federico II, the University of Padua and the University of Rome “La Sapienza” are participating in the initiative. The collaboration is aimed at the realisation of a university level educational project in countries of the African continent.

The Foundation identifies its mission as carrying out all activities aimed at promoting and developing the teaching, training, and further education of students living in African countries and the upgrading of the staff of local universities with appropriate interdisciplinary scientific methodologies.

The Foundation's programme is supported and aligned with the priorities of the Ministry of Universities and Research (MUR) and is coordinated with the relevant strategic internationalisation plans. The strategic vision underpinning the Foundation's action is also inspired by the United Nations' Agenda 2030 and the African Union's Agenda 2063, and responds to the recognised role of Italian universities in Italy's cooperation programmes.

The Foundation therefore works to offer high quality training, both basic and specialised, to students who aspire to acquire a university education of a high technical and scientific level, in order to be able to subsequently enter management, academic or political-administrative careers in the various sectors of the production and service industries in the countries concerned. The alumni community will consolidate the wealth of relations between Italy and Africa by enriching the opportunities for exchange between their respective cultural, economic, entrepreneurial and innovation systems in the short and, above all, long term.

The universities of the IHEA Foundation have initiated a multilevel training programme to support African universities. Therefore, as requested by UNESCO, the FAO, the Association of African Universities and the African governments themselves, the Foundation aims in the immediate future to support the resilience of African education systems, starting with a virtual mobility programme from the first semester of the academic year 2020/21: 1st level inter-university master’s degree Sustainable management of resources and cultural heritage for local development: empowering higher education in Africa.