The Erasmus Programme, primarily known for its transformative role in European higher education, has also made significant inroads in Africa, leaving an indelible mark on the continent’s academic and socio-cultural landscape. Initially designed to promote student and staff exchanges within Europe, the program’s expansion to non-European nations, including several in Africa, has fostered international collaboration, capacity building, and intercultural understanding.
In Africa, Erasmus has played a pivotal role in enhancing the quality of higher education by facilitating partnerships between African and European institutions. These collaborations have led to curriculum development, research initiatives, and the exchange of best practices in pedagogy. Moreover, African students and academics who have participated in the program return with enhanced skills, broader perspectives, and a renewed commitment to addressing local challenges.
Beyond academia, the cultural exchange promoted by Erasmus has fostered mutual respect and understanding between Europe and Africa. It has debunked stereotypes, bridged cultural divides, and laid the foundation for stronger diplomatic and economic ties.
In essence, while Erasmus is often celebrated for its contributions to European integration, its impact in Africa stands as a testament to the program’s potential for global outreach, fostering international collaboration, and building bridges between diverse communities
The ATHENA European University, in conjunction with the Hellenic Mediterranean University, cordially invites esteemed participants to a round table discussion dedicated to a topic of paramount importance. During this assembly, distinguished panelists from both Europe and Africa will deliberate on several pivotal themes:a) Past collaborations with African academic institutions; b) Anticipations and hurdles encountered from both sides; c) The specific requirements of our African counterparts; and d) Suggestions for future collaboration initiatives and topical areas of focus.
 
The presentations and discussions will last 60 minutes. Our panelists will be: 
  1. Professor Nuno Escudeiro, Polytechnic Institute do Porto, Portugal
  2. Mr. Dirk Van Merode, AP University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Belgium
  3. Asst. Professor Giorgos Kritsotakis, Hellenic Mediterranean University, Greece
  4. Ass. Professor Moudatsou Argiro, Hellenic Mediterranean University, Greece
  5. Professor Geoffrey Andogah, Muni University, Uganda, Africa
  6. Asc. Professor George Fouskitakis, Hellenic Mediterranean University, Greece
  7.  Eng. Godfrey Luwemba, Ardhi University, Tanzania
  8. Dr. Sokona Dagnoko, Head of Partnerships at RUFORUM
  9. Raymond Tumwesigye, Lira University, Uganda
Moderator: Associate Professor Konstantinos Petridis, HMU, Greece
Professor Nuno Escudeiro, Polytechnic Institute do Porto, Portugal

Instituto Politécnico do Porto, Portugal

ATHENA European University

European Association of Erasmus Coordinators

nfe@isep.ipp.pt

Nuno Escudeiro is Associate Professor at the School of Engineering of the Polytechnic of Porto. Nuno has a PhD in Informatics. He has been working in international cooperation of higher education and doing research in machine learning. Nuno is Vice-President of the European Association of Erasmus Coordinator and of the European Association of Career Guidance and a member of the advisory boards of INNTOECS – International Network of Technical Schools – and SPACE4GEO Alliance – Large-scale Skills Partnership on Space Data, Services and Applications. He has been participating and coordinating several R&D projects for the past 15 years, many of which related to sign language translation. Nuno is one of the researchers who are developing VirtualSign, a technology for automatic sign language translation, since 2012.

Ass. Professor Moudatsou Argiro, Hellenic Mediterranean University, Greece

Argiro Κ. Moudatsou

Associate Professor in Economics

Hellenic Mediterranean University

moudatsou@hmu.gr

Argyro K. Moudatsou is an associate professor in the discipline of Economic Analysis at the
Hellenic Mediterranean University.
Education: 1)Bachelor of Economics :National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (1981)
2)Master of Arts in Economics – Specialization Statistics – Econometrics – Graduate
Department of ASOEE (1983), 3) Ph.D in Economics (Doctor Rerum Oeconomicarum)–
Technische Universitaet Berlin (1999)
Research interests
Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), Economics of Developing and Emerging Economies,
Growth and Inequality issues, BRICS studies.
Cross references 596
Website https://eclass.hmu.gr/courses/BAT195/

Mr. Dirk Van Merode, AP University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Belgium

Mr. Dirk Van Merode

AP University of Applied Sciences and Arts

dirk.vanmerode@ap.be

Dirk Van Merode MSc found his passion in learning, developing, teaching and preaching technology, as a researcher, lecturer and international projects coordinator at AP University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Antwerp.

His field of expertise is in Internet-of-Things, digital systems design, printed circuit board design and production, embedded systems, and audio-video production. Research topics are mainly in European projects, both on curriculum development and student and staff mobility with partner countries outside the EU, and he has some experience in space applications and satellite development. He was and is partner and coordinator of numerous international projects.

He was guest professor and advisor in several European, Asian and African universities.

Dirk is currently coordinator of the Erasmus+ KA2 CBHE project called AHUMAIN: Applied Human Machine Intelligence in East Africa (https://ahumain.africa/), a project on applied AI for East-Africa, in Uganda and Tanzania. He was coordinator of the successful ACTEA-project: Applied Curricula in Technology for East Africa (www.actea.net), a project on applied industrial technology, in Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania. He also coordinates an Erasmus+ KA171-project for student and staff mobility with 4 African universities.

Dirk is also partner in in Erasmus+ KA2 SPACECOM: New study program in space systems and communications engineering (https://spacecom.uz/en) and coordinated KA107-projects with Ukraine and Israel.

Asst. Professor Giorgos Kritsotakis, Hellenic Mediterranean University, Greece

Ass. Professor Giorgos Kritsotakis, Hellenic Mediterranean University, Greece

gkrits@hmu.gr

I hold the position of Assistant Professor in Public Health Nursing and Social Epidemiology within the Department of Business Administration & Tourism at Hellenic Mediterranean University, Greece. Additionally, since October 2017, I have served as adjunct faculty for the MSc in Health Services Administration at Hellenic Open University.

My educational background includes a Bachelor’s degree in Nursing obtained from TEI of Crete, a Master of Arts degree in Health Education & Health Promotion by UCL Institute of Education, University of London, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Social Medicine awarded by the Department of Medicine at the University of Crete. In 2012, I had participated in the Summer Session in Public Health Studies at the Harvard School of Public Health, focusing on the subject of Society & Health.

Throughout my career, I have been actively involved in various research teams, where I have assumed roles as Principal Investigator and member of the core research team for numerous funded research projects.

Currently, I am supervising two PhD theses, in addition to having co-supervised a multitude of PhD candidates and over 45 postgraduate theses across different PhD and master’s degree programs.

My research findings have been presented at prominent international conferences, and I have been frequently invited to participate in national conferences and seminars. Notably, I received the Award from the scientific committee for delivering the best oral presentation titled: Is individual-level social capital associated with patient satisfaction with cancer care during the  5th Pan-Hellenic Congress for the Administration, Finance & Health Policy, held in Athens from December 2 to December 5, 2009.

Furthermore, I have served as a peer reviewer for various esteemed academic journals, including but not limited to the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, Social Science & Medicine, American Journal of Human Biology, Public Health Nutrition, Journal of Public Health,
Aggressive Behavior, Journal of Advanced Nursing, Health Promotion International, Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, Nursing & Health Sciences, and Western Journal of Nursing Research, among others. My scholarly contributions encompass the publication of over 45 academic papers in international and national peer-reviewed journals, with a primary focus on subjects such as health management, social capital, and lifestyle behavioral risk factors.

Professor Geoffrey Andogah, Muni University, Uganda, Africa
Ass. Professor George Fouskitakis, Hellenic Mediterranean University, Greece

Dr. George Fouskitakis

Asc. Professor, Dept. of Electronic Engineering

Design, Manufacturing & Automation Laboratory

Hellenic Mediterranean University

fouskit@hmu.gr

 

Eng. Godfrey Luwemba, Ardhi University, Tanzania

Local coordinator – AHUMAIN Project
Subproject Leader – VLIR-UOS – ICT & Smart Sustainable and Inclusive Cities
Department of Computer Systems and Mathematics
Ardhi University

email: godfrey.luwemba@aru.ac.tz

Dr. Sokona Dagnoko, Head of Partnerships at RUFORUM

Dr. Hajjat Dr Sokona Dagnoko

Executive Assistant to the Executive Secretary

Head, RUFORUM Partnerships

s.dagnoko@ruforum.org

Sokona Dagnoko is a National from Mali, West Africa. She holds a Master of Science in Animal Science with major in Nutrition from Laval University, Quebec (Canada). Dr Dagnoko also holds a PhD in Plant Breeding and Genetics with minor in International Agriculture from Cornell University, Ithaca (New York).

Her areas of expertise include among others, Biometry, experimental design and statistical analysis of complex data sets, Plant breeding and seed systems of staple crops and vegetables, conventional and molecular breeding; biotechnology; Agricultural extension and advisory services, Monitoring & Evaluation of value-chain projects, , Gender and participatory approaches.

Dr Dagnoko’s working experience include teaching Animal Nutrition at the university in Mali; the coordination of the CORAF/WECARD’s projects of “West Africa Seed Program” in Mali; the “Rice Seed Scaling Up project” across four countries; International Research Scientist at The World Vegetable Center; Scientific Officer at the Sorghum Breeding Program of ICRISAT/Mali; Senior Evaluation Specialist of the “Integrated Initiative for Economic Growth” Project of USAID/Mali; and Lead Consultant for many other projects and programs of various international organizations including the International Relief and Development (IRD), CTA, RUFORUM, ISSD/Africa, World Bank Group, etc.

She currently serves RUFORUM as a member of its Technical Committee. Dr Dagnoko is also the Country Director of the Sasakawa Africa Association office in Mali.

Raymond Tumwesigye, Lira University, Uganda

Lira University

Lecturer at Lira University, Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery, Department of Emergency Nursing and Critical Care

rtumwesigye@lirauni.ac.ug

Raymond Tumwesigye is Registered Critical care Nurse, currently working as a Lecturer
of Nursing at Lira University, and He is a MoH Uganda Trainer of Critical care Nursing
Courses, a Visiting Lecturer at Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST)
and King Ceasor University, Uganda. He is an Alumni of Erasmus, Student and Staff
exchange Programme, Class of 2018 from MUST. He is currently a PhD Fellow at
Hellenic Meditteranean University, in Greece under Supervision of Professor George
Kritsotakis.
His research interests are in: Missed Nursing Care and its association with Adverse
Patient Outcomes in Ugandan hospitals, Male Contraceptives, Infectious diseases and
the application of artificial intelligence to nursing and medical issues.
Google scholar profile: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=nhArz8kAAAAJ&hl=en
ORCID : https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4656-4496