PROSPER project: first capacity-building workshops in Kenya
From 26th to 31st March 2026, the Erasmus+ PROSPER project (Promoting Opportunities and Strengthening Partnerships for Enhanced Internationalisation between Europe and Kenya), coordinated by Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University, entered a new phase with the organisation of two capacity-building workshops in Kenya.
Strengthening internationalisation through peer learning
Officially launched in February 2025 at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University, the PROSPER project aims to foster international cooperation in order to enhance the visibility and competitiveness of Kenyan universities on the global stage. The project focuses on three major dimensions of higher education internationalisation: international communication, the design of internationalisation strategies tailored to current challenges facing higher education in Kenya, and the development of digital collaboration. PROSPER contributes to strengthening the skills of university staff and to consolidating sustainable and innovative academic cooperation between the European and Kenyan partners involved in the project.
Within this framework, two workshops organised by the Kenyan partner universities brought together more than 50 participants from university governance bodies and the academic community. These interactive sessions fostered the sharing of practices and experiences, and the development of internationalisation strategies. They also helped to fuel collective reflection on the tools, methods and action frameworks required to support institutions over the long term in their internationalisation efforts.
A series of thematic workshops to support cooperation
The first workshop, held on 26th and 27th March at the University of Eldoret, focused on structuring universities' internationalisation strategies. Co-facilitated by representatives from Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and the University of Eldoret, the workshop also benefited from the expertise of other project partners, including the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) in Germany, and the African Network for Internationalization of Education (ANIE). Discussions focused on how to design a coherent internationalisation strategy, identify relevant monitoring and evaluation indicators, and structure and negotiate balanced partnerships.
On 30th and 31st March, a second workshop dedicated to digital collaboration took place at the Open University of Kenya, located in the Konza Technopolis. Through interactive sessions, participants shared their experiences with digital tools, explored new forms of hybrid and distance collaboration, and discussed the challenges associated with their implementation. The sessions also placed strong emphasis on co-construction approaches and more practice-oriented reflections on the conditions required for implementing virtual mobility frameworks and digital cooperation between partner institutions.
Turning exchanges into operational tools
The workshop cycle will continue with a third session organised online on 13th and 14th April by the Training Centre in Communication (TCC Africa). This session will focus on academic visibility and issues related to Kenyan research publications, a key lever for strengthening the international profile of higher education institutions.
Following these meetings, three thematic working groups will be established to formalise the project’s outcomes and contribute to the expected deliverables. These groups will aim to transform the exchanges held during the workshops into concrete tools that can be readily adopted by partner institutions and shared more widely as models at the regional level. These developments will be discussed in depth during the next internal assessment seminar, scheduled to take place in June 2026 at the European University Viadrina.
