INSSPIRE PARTNERS
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) is an internationally renowned research and education university that was founded in 1880. With 31,704 students and 4,260 staff members, VU comprises of 9 faculties, including biomedical sciences and humanities disciplines. The university is characterized by a high level of ambition in academic research and education, which encourages free and open communications and ideas. VU focuses on four research themes, reflecting its strong level of involvement in current societal issues: Human Health and Life Sciences, Science for Sustainability, Connected World, and Governance for Society. The university has a comprehensive approach that is centered around three core values: responsibility towards society, openness for diversity, and a personal approach to all members of its community. VU’s Centre for International Cooperation (CIS-VU) initiates and coordinates capacity building, education, research, and outreach programs and projects in cooperation with partners in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. CIS believes in an integrated, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary approach to address global challenges in collaboration with VU faculties and international partners.
Dr. Denyse Snelder
Denyse is a senior advisor in Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Land & Water Management at the Centre for International Cooperation (CIS-VU). She teaches courses on food security, International Development and research proposal writing and leads multiple projects within her field of expertise in Africa and Southeast Asia. Denyse obtained her PhD at the University of Toronto, Canada, based on research directed at soil erosion control in the Baringo District, Kenya.
Sabina di Prima
Sabina is a Sustainable Food Systems specialist and Manager of International Cooperation Projects at the Centre for International Cooperation (CIS-VU). She coordinates and lectures in the VU pre-doctoral trainings for international PhD students. In the framework of her PhD, she conducts transdisciplinary research on the topic of Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture addressing issues of food insecurity and malnutrition among vulnerable rural communities in Lao PDR and Vietnam.
Colette Gerards
Colette is an experienced project (finance) manager at the Centre for International Cooperation (CIS-VU) with keen interest in the Erasmus+ programme. She has managed large scale projects in the region focussing on recent developments in Higher Education in South Africa and Kenya particularly in the postgraduate cycle, which led to the development of the cross-regional CPC project.
Mekky Zaidi
Mekky is a project manager at the Centre for International Cooperation (CIS-VU) and has vast experience in communication and disssemination in multiple projects in Africa, the Middle-East and Asia. She has conducted research on the impact of vegetable gardens in schools on the nutritional behaviour of children. In another research project, she looked at the purchasing behaviour of customers in supermarkets when fruits and vegetables are promoted through nudging strategies.
MASENO UNIVERSITY…the only university on the equator.
Maseno University is a public university established by an Act of Parliament in 1991, located 30km West of Kisumu City, Kenya. In 2000 it was elevated to a fully fledged University. Maseno University has faculties and schools offering various degree and diploma programmes in humanities, social, biological, physical and medical sciences. The programmes offered are ‘With IT’ to ensure that all graduates of Maseno are adequately exposed to a knowledge-base that enables them live, learn and work in a multi-disciplinary setting where ICT is as much a resource for learning and workin. The eCampus initiative facilitates online delivery of programmes to learners in various parts of the country, the East African region and beyond.
Dr. Lillian Omondi
Lillian is a sociologist experienced in Participatory Community Planning and Co-production of Knowledge, Project Management. Interests include Social Capital and Inclusion, Gender, Climate Change Adaptation, and Mentorship.
Prof. George Mark Onyango
George Onyango is an urban and regional planner with years of experience in teaching, surveys, research designs, facilitating community participation in urban and rural planning and development.
Dr. Jenniffer Vera Atieno
Vera is an Environmental Scientist and the Chair-person of the School of Agriculture, Food Security & Environmental Sciences Postgraduate Committee at MSU. She specializes in climate change, waste management, and research proposal writing. Her research focuses on greenhouse gas emissions and crop residue utilization. As part of the INSSPIRE project, she will contribute to curricula enrichment and collaborate with students and stakeholders in Real-Life Learning Labs (RLLL).
SEKU is a Kenyan public university with its main campus located in Kitui County. It formerly was the South Eastern University College (SEUCO), a constituent college of The University of Nairobi prior to its award of Charter on 1 March 2013. The University has four campuses in the country all of which admit students to pursue learning various programmes. The university has focus on development of the arid lands through its eight schools, which have continued to offer and manage quality and pertinent education in line with local and international demands along the core mandate of teaching, research and outreach. To sustainably achieve this, the institution has continued to partner with likeminded outfits. SEKU covers the food system spectrum through a number of schools and departments. The planning, production, processing, storage and marketing is housed in the school of agriculture, environment, water and natural resources whereas, the value additions and safe handling are taught by the School of Health Sciences. The school of Business and Economics are instrumental is providing refined skills in market access. Mechanization in the food system falls in the docket of the School of Engineering and Technology while the soft skills are in the school of Social Sciences.
Dr. Moses Mwangi
Dr. Moses Mwangi is a Senior Lecturer specialized in Hydrology and Aquatic Sciences. With a background in Water Engineering and Resources Management, he is passionate on sustainable development in the arid and semi-arid lands ecosystems. Currently, Dr Mwangi is involved in researches on dew and fog collection, sand dams, and orphaned crops revitalization. He aims to share his expertise and experiences in the INSSPIRE project and, contribute to curriculum enrichment for improved food systems in light of climate change.
Dr. Hesbon Otieno
Hesbon is a Water Resources Engineer in the School of Engineering and Technology at SEKU. He teaches courses on Hydrology, Hydraulics and Hydroinformatics. He obtained his PhD in Civil Engineering at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom. He has been involved in various nature based solutions to water resources and food systems projects in dry areas of Kenya. In INSSPIRE Project he will be involved in curriculum enrichment by developing RLLL at SEKU as well as SEKU community and stakeholder engagement.
Ms. Jerusha Waweru
Jerusha is a Fisheries and Aquaculture expert with key focus in fish nutrition and aquaculture economics. She is a Tutorial Fellow teaching courses on Fish feed formulation and nutrition, Seed and Larval production and Aquaculture economics. In the INSSPIRE Project she will be involved in RLLL implementation, Internationalization, COIL and mobilities implementation as well as dissemination of project results.
Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) is a Ugandan public university established in 1989 by the MUST Statute 1989 as a body corporate and currently governed by the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act, 2001 as amended. With its eight academic units, MUST strives to lead in the provision of quality and relevant education at national and international levels with particular emphasis on science and technology and its application to community development. Two of MUST’s academic units participating in the INSSPIRE project are the Institute of Tropical Forest Conservation (ITFC) and the Faculty of Interdisciplinary Studies (FIS) each complimenting the other in the achievement of the INSSPIRE project’s aims and objectives. ITFC is a research institute of MUST with a wide range of experience in climate change research and FIS is teaching faculty of MUST that trains undergraduate students in food systems and community livelihoods since 2015.
Dr. Robert Bitariho
Robert is an Associate Professor of environment and natural resource management at MUST. He is the Lead Project Manager INSSPIRE project at MUST and will lead in the management and implementation of the project activities and delivery of project outputs including Internationalization, Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) and mobilities implementation.
Dr. Ronald Twongyirwe
Ronald is a Senior Lecturer and Head of department in the Faculty of Interdisciplinary Studies at MUST. He is the Co-lead of the INSSPIRE project in societal engagement and development of Real-Life Learning Labs (RLLL) at MUST, including Internationalization, COIL and mobilities implementation, Curricula enhancement uptake and dissemination of project results at MUST institutional and national levels.
Janet Ninsiima
Janet is an administrative assistant at the Directorate of Research and Graduate Training at MUST. She is the INSSPIRE project administrator at MUST and will oversee budget performance, accountabilities, financial reporting, and administration of the project activities in collaboration with the project leader and the MUST’s grants office.
Makerere University, Kampala is Uganda’s largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922. It became an independent national university in 1970 by Act of Parliament. Today, Makerere University is composed of nine (9) colleges and one school offering programmes for about 36,000 undergraduates and 4,000 postgraduates. At the undergraduate level, Makerere University has 145 programmes which include 11 (Eleven) Diplomas and 134 (One Hundred and Thirty-Four) bachelor’s programmes. The University also offers over 139 Postgraduate Programmes which include 17 (Seventeen) Postgraduate Diplomas and 135 (One Hundred and Thirty-Five) Master’s Degree programmes. All academic units have provisions for offering Doctoral Degrees either by research only or by coursework and dissertation.
Dr. Kato Charles Drago
Charles is a Lecturer at Makerere University. He is the co-leading of the INSSPIRE project in societal engagement and development of Real-Life Learning Labs (RLLL) and Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) at Makerere University.
Dr. Shamilah Namusis
Shamilah is a Research Scientist at Makerere University. She will contribute to curricula enhancement and innovation and the development of Real-Life Learning Labs (RLLL) at Makerere University.
Ms. Mudumba Rose Vivaren
Rose is an Accountant at Makerere University. She is the INSSPIRE project Administrator at Makerere University and will oversee budget performance, accountabilities, financial reporting, and administration of the project activities.
IRI UL was established by the University of Ljubljana together with several technologically advanced Slovenian companies as the intermediary organization, operating as a service for knowledge and technology transfer of the Slovenia’s most prominent University. It is a non-profit research institute with a mission to foster a long rung and reciprocal cooperation between the higher education environment and Slovenian industry and society.
Dr. Gregor Cerinšek
Gregor is an anthropologist and Head of Department for Applied Social Science leading transitional and interdisciplinary university-business innovation projects.
Tilen Šoštarič
Tilen is a masters student at Faculty of Social Sciences at University of Ljubljana. He has experience in communication and dissemination from other projects with the main focus on the audio-visual (photography, video, etc.).
Tamara Smolej
Tamara is the communication manager at IRI UL. With years of experience in integrated communication, she plays a role in numerous projects and dissemination strategies.
Founded in 1919, the University of Ljubljana is the oldest and largest higher education and scientific research institution in Slovenia. With over 40,000 students and 6,000 staff, the university offers quality social and natural sciences, technical study programs and arts academies. The university has 23 faculties and three arts academies, located both in the center of Ljubljana and on the outskirts of the city. It has strong ties with Slovenian and foreign companies, including multinational corporations, and is the central research institution in Slovenia.
Dr. Tomi Medved
Tomi Medved is a Head of Laboratory of Energy Policy at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the University of Ljubljana. His main research topics are Smart Grids, renewable integration, demand response optimization, electricity markets modelling and policy design.
Edin Lakić
Edin Lakić, M.EE, got his Master’s degree at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Ljubljana in 2012 and is currently employed as a senior researcher at the Laboratory of Energy Policy (LEST) at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Ljubljana.
Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) is the public university of Southern Catalonia (Spain). It was created in 1991 and has developed a multi-centre structure with 6 campus sites in the region of Tarragona. As a comprehensive and research-oriented university, URV offers almost all fields of study. For the last 10 years, URV has worked intensely in Internationalisation at Home, mainly through internationalisation of the curriculum and by developing training courses for academic and non-academic staff to create institutional awareness on the importance of internationalisation. Since 2019 URV actively promotes COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) amongst its academic staff, offering them training and support. URV is a member of the Aurora European Universities Alliance.
Marina Casals Sala
Marina Casals is Director of International Relations at URV and an experienced trainer and speaker in the field of Internationalisation.
Marina Vives Cabré
Marina Vives works at the International Center, focusing on the internationalisation-at-home strategy development through COIL projects and virtual and blended (virtual and on-site) initiatives.
Dr. Sílvia de Lamo Castellví
Sílvia de Lamo-Castellví holds an Associate Professor at URV. Applications of spectroscopic techniques for chemical detection and characterization in biological systems are her areas of expertise.
Dr. Maria Carmen Güell Saperas
Carmen is an Associate Professor at the Department d’Enginyeria Química at Universitat Rovira i Virgili teaching in Food Engineering degrees and expert in membrane encapsulation processes.
Dr. Anna Maria Segarra Gonzalez
Anna is a chemistry PhD and manager for the Unit of Co-creation for Innovation at FURV. She is an expert in co-creation processes to generate changes in the culture of innovation at local, regional and international levels.
Margareta Wessels
Margareta works as a project manager at URV’s International Center and has been involved in several Erasmus+ KA2 projects.