PACTUM PROJECT

Projecting Academic Capacities with Tunisian Universities through Master courses

618888-EPP-1-2020-1-IT-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP

Program: Erasmus+

Action: Capacity Building in higher education – KA2

Coordinator: UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI SIENA    /     Luca  Verzichelli

Project date: 15/01/2021 – 14/01-2024      /    36 months

Project summary :

The goals of the project – exchange of degree planning experiences in the field of social sciences, organization of preparatory summer schools, design of a vocational master’s course and involvement of social actors and public administration – converge on the crucial need to boost positive impact on students and mutual enrichment between European and Tunisian academics. In this perspective the project mainly targets four groups in Tunisia – that is, students, teaching staff, public employees, and engaged civil society.

Pactum's main outcomes will be an integrating Master Program and three annual cycles of five summer schools dedicated to sustainability, good governance and public administration, democratic theories, and participation in the Mediterranean area. All these activities will be held at five Tunisian universities and will involve three European Universities: University of Siena, University of Montpellier and University of Granada.

Students are the main focus of the project. In particular, not only the project wants to provide students with the tools to understand a complex world and become citizens aware of their rights and duties, but also train tomorrow’s public employees and political elites who will face challenges like corruption and inefficient bureaucracy. Tunisian university professors and researchers represent the second target group of the PACTUM project, as instructors involved in the master course. In such a regard, European partners, through their own academic staff, have to provide knowledge to the Tunisian colleagues in fields and subjects that have been constantly overlooked during the long-lasting authoritarian period in Tunisia. The third target group is public employees. The goal is to provide Tunisian public employees with the skills necessary to intervene in public policies and self-reform from within their own institution along the lines of transparency, accountability, and meritocracy through the participation in the third cycle of summer schools. The fourth and final target group is civil society at large. The project establishes cooperation with some of those Tunisian associations and organizations that have been working for many years now in the field of political accountability and transparency.

The Pactum project, co-funded by the European Commission Erasmus+ program, aims at sharing best practices and knowledge in the field of social sciences, with a special focus on modernization, sustainability, and Internationalization of the Higher Education system in Tunisia. The project also establishes cooperation with some of those Tunisian associations and organizations that have been working for many years now in the field of political accountability and transparency.

Visit the sections Events, Summer School and Result to find out more about our project and activities.