TUNASIA project: actively fulfilling the 2020 goals in the complicated Covid situation
TUNASIA project “Tuning environmental competences in Asian fishery education for sustainable development” under the Erasmus+ program implemented from 2018 to 2020 by the cooperation of 11 universities/ research institutes of Europe and Southeast Asia, including Nha Trang University. The project activities pursue the objectives of the Capacity Building in Higher Education (CBHE) action related to improving competences and skills in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the Partner Countries through the development of new and innovative education programs, and to promoting cooperation between EU and Partner Country HEIs.
Within the framework of TUNASIA project, Nha Trang University signed memoranda of understanding (MoU) with its network partners. Currently, NTU has signed MoU with Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry – Thai Nguyen University, HCMC University of Agriculture and Forestry and two universities from Thailand including Maejo University and Khon Kaen University. These momeranda are intended to promote cooperation on training and research. Each party can propose activities and programs such as exchange of lecturers and students, training course to improve the quality of staff and lecturers.
In October 2020, the 3rd TUNASIA international conference "Environmental education in fisheries and strategies of regional development" was organized virtually due to Covid-19 pandemic. There were 14 presentations from different universities, businesses, and researchers. These presentations focused on all issues of environmental management such as towards eco-friendly fisheries in ASEAN, improvement of students' awareness of the environment, and research findings on the orientations in environmental education.
A short training course on shrimp farming was organized on December 19, 2020 by the Aquaculture Center of Excellence (NTU) in Ben Tre province in Mekong Delta. The participants came from small scale shrimp farmers, enterprises, research institutes, universities, and local departments of fisheries. The course enhanced farmers knowledge and practical aspects, which can be applied in their farm systems.
The short training course on shrimp farming
In addition, project members have compiled textbooks for training programs on aquaculture and environmental management; and collaborated with the Institute of Aquaculture – NTU to develop an international master’s program on environmental management in the fisheries sector.
In the coming time, an online seminar with the topic "Towards Sustainable Development in Fisheries - Contribution of educational networks" will be organized on April 8-9, 2021. It is expected that there will be 14 presentations from partner institutions in the TUNASIA project, in which Dr. Khong Trung Thang - Chairman of the University Council (NTU) will have a presentation on the V2WORK project “Strengthening the Vietnamese Higher Education System to improve graduates’ employability and entrepreneurship skills”.