Administrated by ACA’s member organization in Finland—Finnish National Agency for Education (EDUFI), the Higher Education Institutions Institutional Cooperation Instrument  (HEI ICI) supports cooperation projects between HEIs in Finland and HEIs in developing countries to strengthen and develop higher education. Between 2017 and 2020, the financing granted to the HEI ICI programme totalled EUR 12 million. The financing was used to implement 20 projects in 16 countries.

During the programme period 2017–2020, almost 30 degree programmes and more than 50 individual courses were reformed. Improving the quality of education in the higher education institutions (HEIs) of partner countries was the key achievement in the cooperation between HEIs.

Especially the quality of higher education, the pedagogical capacities, the connections of higher education with the labour market, and students’ access to higher education in the developing countries were improved in the projects. In the degree programmes and courses, teachers’ methodological and pedagogical capabilities were developed with a special focus on innovative learner-centric methods. In addition, research capacity was strengthened in several of the projects. During the programme period, actors in HEIs published more than 100 research articles related to their HEI ICI projects.

Thanks to virtual teaching methods and digital learning environments, more and more students have access to higher education. HEI ICI projects improved the internet connections of HEIs in the developing countries, developed digital tools to help virtual learning and improved access to research data. With the introduction of new kinds of virtual equipment, the projects invested in the training of staff and joint development. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the development of virtual methods became topical in all projects.

Read the Results of the HEI ICI programme 2017-2020 here.

Read more about the HEI ICI programme here.