Events
The Kolping University of Health and Social Sciences Germany has concluded an international cooperation agreement with the Kolping University of Applied Sciences in Lithuania. The founding rector of the German Kolping University, Dr. Edith Hansmeier, and the director of the Lithuanian partner university, Dr. Ramunė Bagdonaitė-Stelmokienė, signed the Memorandum of Understanding on June 10, 2022. The Memorandum of Understanding is based on the principles of equality and reciprocity and serves as a starting point for future cooperation between the two partners.
From the left: Dr. Edith Hansmeier and Dr. Ramunė Bagdonaitė-Stelmokienė
The Kolping University of Health and Social Sciences Germany sees itself “as a living part of the international Kolping network”, so that besides the close cooperation with the Kolping educational companies and other practice partners in Germany and the region, the strengthening of international educational cooperations is also a central endeavor of the university.
The aim of the agreement, which will initially run for five years, is to promote common interests in teaching and research as well as intercultural exchange between teachers and students. Students are to be encouraged to broaden their horizons beyond their own institutional and national horizons within the framework of internships and international learning expeditions at the partner university. The development of joint lecture series and seminars as well as the possibility of staff exchange programs are also part of the Memorandum of Understanding.
With this agreement, the Kolping University not only fulfills its task of internationalization anchored in the Higher Education Act of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (§3 (6)). Rather, the Memorandum of Understanding is also an expression of the freely chosen self-conception of the university: The socially relevant and value-oriented competence development in the study program enables the graduates to deal with their professional practice through professional, methodical and intercultural competence, sense of responsibility, openness and critical judgment and to develop it in a targeted and constructive way – in national as well as in international settings.
The Kolping University Germany considers the present Memorandum of Understanding with the Kolping University of Applied Sciences Lithuania as a forward-looking first step for further internationalization activities and the strengthening of its international cooperation network.