Click on the logo for overview on the CADI
The UDI-A project created (or updated) a new university service at African Partner Universities that will help develop the necessary competencies for the promotion of academic development and innovation. This new service, the CADI will act on the capacitation of academic and non-academic staff to deal with change and to facilitate the adoption of important global trends in Higher Education in initiatives that have a local social and developmental impact.
The CADIs have the following objectives:
• Promote and organize training opportunities for academic staff in scientific areas that are of strategic importance for the institution and region.
• Promote and organize training of non-academic staff in management and administration, aiming at modernizing and innovating processes at the institution
• Promote and organize training in soft and transferable skills with a strong focus in social innovation and entrepreneurship
• Contribute to the stakeholder engagement with the institution at regional, national and international level
• Participate actively in networks in the field of modernization and innovation in higher education, including social innovation and entrepreneurship
Each African partner worked in collaboration with the TWIN European Partner to identify the organizational model best suited for the CADI to operate successfully in their given local context, including:
• The integration of the CADIs in the organizational structure of the University
• The CADI local management team and staff team
• An External Body of Advisors that will advise the Management Team in strategic issues
The CADIs were equipped with a 10 laptops that were used by the CHAMPIONS during their international experience ICP and after returning to the university. The CADIs were also equipped with 10 workstations, one for each the JUNIORs members of the teams, and a multi-function printer/photocopier.
The CADIs have two important areas of activity:
• Academic Development: promoting the scientific update of academic activities, aiming at the increasing the quality of the Teaching/Learning process and the quality of Research.
• Innovation: activities that promote a proximity with the region and local stakeholders, and that contribute to the promotion of Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
During the lifetime of the project, the CADIs organized the following dissemination activities, described in detail in WP7, in synergy with existing services of the university:
• Meetings with stakeholders
• Workshops
• Consortium Meetings
• Annual International Conferences
• TWIN activities
• Other networking activities
Additionally, the CADIs will be essential for the exploitation of the project results and outputs, continuing its activities after the lifetime of the project.