From 31st October until 5th of November 2020, our colleague Enisa Musai, from EMUNI’s External Relations and Outreach Department, completed an Erasmus+ Mobility training and exchange with the Antonine University (UA) in Beirut, Lebanon.
The purpose of the exchange was to strengthen the cooperation between EMUNI University and Antonine University but also to exchange best practices and share experiences on how to cope with the effects of COVID-19 on teaching activities.
Despite the many precautions necessary to mitigate the risk of infection, our colleague Enisa reported that the visit can be considered a success. During the visit, Enisa met with the students in Beirut and exposed the opportunities EMUNI has to offer.
The mobility provided the opportunity to visit the brand new campus of Antonine University, ready to be populated with students the moment the pandemic subsides. Consistently with the purpose of the visit, staff from the host institution showcased the countermeasures put in place to minimise the risk of infection.
Coherently with her tasks at EMUNI, Enisa visited the Communication and Public Relations office where she met with management and learned the hosts’ methods for building PR strategies, marketing the programmes and the projects of the university, advertising different events as well as recruiting students. Enisa treasured the opportunity to see how the recruiting methods work in Lebanon and what practices can be adopted for EMUNI’s own recruiting strategies.
Enisa also had the opportunity to participate in the meeting with the Secretary-General and Vice-Rector of UA alongside EMUNIs president Prof. Dr Abdelhammid El-Zoheiry who was also on a Mobility Visit. The working meetings were very productive and the possibility of launching a joint programme between UA and EMUNI was discussed.
Finally, the visit proved educational on many levels, firstly on the professional level for the exchange of best practices, but also on the human level since Enisa was hit by the visit to the site of the blast that occurred in Beirut’s harbour on the 4 of August 2020.