Dec 03, 2020
Tunisia Education Collaboration
Introduction
During the two initiation visits to the different regions of Tunisia in July and October 2020, numerous contacts were successfully established and the first joint projects implemented. The main focus was on reinforcing the cooperation between TU Dresden and ESAD Tunis. Some of the main initial results were the submission of an application for a DAAD project as well as a first joint workshop in English involving both students and teachers from Dresden and Tunis respectively. Due to the restrictions caused by the corona pandemic, the workshop took place in a virtualanalogue hybrid format. Furthermore, the foundations for mutual student mobility and interdisciplinary research projects were laid. All parties involved were very satisfied with the cooperation and are motivated for further cooperation.
The partners
ESAD School of Audiovisual, Architecture and Design, Tunis
The Ecole Supérieure d‘Architecture d‘Audiovisuel et de Design (ESAD), is a private higher education establishment, approved by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and dedicated to the training of Architects, Creative Designers, Film and Audiovisual Professionals and Visual Artists. In addition to its training mission, ESAD is a research and experimentation laboratory, always in touch with the most recent developments in the fields of Architecture, Design and Audiovisual. The teaching staff is made up of qualified university teachers and competent professionals. The ESAD gives an important place to individual and collective research in the framework of courses, transversal workshops, and technical workshops focused on practice and experimentation. Teaching is approached from the angle of a project pedagogy which encourages the transversality of knowledge and intellectual mobility.
IPA-Switxboard Innovation and Planning Agency
Innovation and Planning Agency (IPA) is the leading place to identify resources globally, matching them with the needs of disadvantaged regions. The mission: democratizing the access to global knowhow by combining the best of global and local resources and networks into a unified co-creation ecosystem of innovation with disadvantaged communities. At the heart of IPA is switxboard, a database for connecting global technological, social, ecological and economic solutions to the world’s needs. switxboard technically supports the identification and match of resources and needs and facilitates partnerships between providers and stakeholders. They combine technological, social, financial and spatial innovations with the needs, talents and skills of dispossessed populations in several service lines. switxboard supports to build a global network of trusted private and public partners, who connect in order to collaborate on the needs-based provision of innovative solutions and resources to dispossessed populations. They communicate directly using simple structures and communication paths and facilitate a sharing of resources and ensure synergy. Cooperation then happens on site, valuing the human aspect of partnership. IPA was founded and is chaired by Kilian Kleinschmidt. Mr.Kleinschmidt has over 25 years hands-on experience in international development, emergency response, resource mobilization, and political/regional cooperation in a wide range of organizations (UN, NGOs), countries and programs. In his recent position as the UNHCR Mafraq Head of Sub-Office and Camp Manager for Za’atari Refugee Camp in Jordan, the world’s second-largest refugee camp and the largest camp for Syrian refugees, he has exceeded all expectations and has transformed Za’atari from a chaotic and crime-ridden place to a thriving and stable community ready for its transition to the next phase of its development.
