IROICA

This week, many of our members are meeting at 2024 conference in Toulouse🇫🇷. We have travelled from all over Europe to meet with our partners and discuss the topics closest to our (professional) hearts 💚 regarding international higher education. We look forward to meeting you!

You’re all very welcome to join us for the IROICA reception at booth A54 on Thursday, September 19 at 16:30. Please join us and meet all your life sciences colleagues in one place for a drink 🥂

Here are some of our green travellers who made their journeys by train 🚆

Good morning! ☀️

Check out the latest IROICA newsletter for where to meet us at the EAIE European Association for International Education conference and the dates of next year's Staff Training Week and more 🤓

We hope everyone is having a smooth beginning to the new academic year🤞

Read the newsletter here: https://tinyurl.com/vjpcyx3t

Dear colleagues,

we look forward to meeting you in Toulouse if you're joining the EAIE conference this year.

🚊 If you're a "green traveller", don't forget to register your trip so our friends at Climate Action Network for International Educators - CANIE can monitor the impact you'll have on the carbon footprint of this huge event 🌍

You can register here: https://tinyurl.com/a3wjdy5t

See you soon! 🤗

In just a few weeks, the EAIE European Association for International Education conference will take place in Toulouse 🇫🇷.

It will probably be a very intensive week for most of us attending the event but it's also a nice opportunity to meet with the IROICA family and friends 🤗 So as you book meetings, make sure you join us for the traditional IROICA drinks too.

Where? FranceAgro3 booth, A54
When? Thursday, September 19 at 16.30.

Can't wait to see you! 🥂

On June 10-14, the annual IROICA Staff Training Week took place in Estonia 🇪🇪. We were hosted by Tallinn University and Eesti Maaülikool/Estonian University of Life Sciences for five days of intensive discussions, workshops and networking. This year, the theme of the staff training was "Navigating challenges and opportunities in the era of global polycrisis” and it was really useful for all of us working in international relations to hear from experts in different fields such as artificial intelligence, mental health, climate change and how it all ties in with the work we do every day.

🌲 We also had a chance to learn more about Estonian nature and culture and spend time together while doing that so all in all, we can confirm that the event was a great success.
Thank you to all the participants, presenters and organisers!

Photos by Kadi Kriit (Tallinn University) and Artur Heimola (Estonian University of Life Sciences).

Are you heading to Toulouse for the EAIE European Association for International Education conference in September? If yes, consider joining this ACTION training workshop organised by Aleteha Global Cooperative on September 17th.

💡Alethea's ACTION (Applying Climate Justice to Transform Internationalization Offices Now!) Training Workshop aims to build the sector competency by demonstrating that international higher education and the climate crisis are inextricably linked and how we can collectively take action.

🚂 One of the trainers of the workshop is Margherita Pasquini from Climate Action Network for International Educators - CANIE who many of us met during the IROICA staff training in Austria last year.

🌿 The topic applies to all of us working in international relations offices so if your Tuesday before the EAIE is still open, we urge you to participate.

Hear more from the video below and register here 👇https://www.tickettailor.com/events/aletheaglobalcooperative/1269616

Alethea ACTION Training Workshop Promo - 17 September 2024 Join our first ever, in-person, full-day workshop in Toulouse, France. Advancing Climate Justice for Transformation of International Offices Now (ACTION) tr...

The deadline for the upcoming staff training week has been extended to next week Wednesday May 15th.
So only one week to register, hurry up!

Please find below a message from the organizers:
The Estonian University of Life Sciences and Tallinn University are really looking forward to seeing you all in Tallinn and Tartu for the 27th IROICA staff training.

Together with the Executive Committee we have developed a programme that will tackle many issues that we all, working in the field of international relations, deal with every day. Through workshops and discussions, we will also try to provide some tools to make our lives a bit easier and our work a bit more effective.

You will of course have a chance to get to know Estonia’s two biggest cities, Tallinn (the capital) and Tartu (intellectual capital and this year, also European capital of culture) and Estonian culture in general. There will be an Estonian food workshop, we will plant trees and you will have tours of both cities and if you have time to stay for longer, we will also try out the UNESCO world heritage listed smoke sauna and go on an excursion in Estonian wetlands after the official programme is over.

And of course there will be plenty of time to network with your IROICA friends and colleagues. We know that travelling to Estonia is not the easiest for all of you, so we really want to make it worth your time.

Please check out the staff training programme and registration page here: https://conference.emu.ee/staff-trainings/27th-iroica-staff-training/

If you can, we encourage you to travel green: https://conference.emu.ee/staff-trainings/27th-iroica-staff-training/travel-information/green-travel/ (even if just for one direction)

The staff training will be organised as a Blended Intensive Programme, so if you’re coming for the full week (June 10-14), you’re eligible to be a BIP participant. Y

📣The IROICA Executive Committee and the "Staff Training" organizers are thrilled to announce that the registration for our 27th IROICA Staff Training is now open!

🚨This year, the event will take place in Estonia and will focus on "Navigating challenges and opportunities in the era of global polycrisis"

Pre-staff-training in the University of Tallin : 10th - 11th of June
Staff-training in the Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu : 12th - 14th of June

💻More information and registration link are available with the full programme: https://conference.emu.ee/staff-trainings/27th-iroica-staff-training/

✅The registration is open to all, including non-IROICA members. Nevertheless, you can easily become a member by applying on our website, on an individual basis, and at no cost.

🚄Additionally, please make your hotel reservation as soon as possible and endeavor to travel to Estonia in an environmentally sustainable way. Further details regarding accommodation and travel arrangements can be found on the website.

🌍This week the Climate Action Network for International Educators - CANIE is organizing several inspiring webinars during the Climate Action Week!

🚆On Thursday March 28, "our" Matt Tips will present the updated Staff Travel Policy at KU Leuven.

The webinar is open to all!
More information and registrations:
https://canie.org/participate/climate-action-week-2024

🌳Our IROICA partners at Mendel University in Brno (MENDELU) are organizing the 7th European Agroforestry conference (May 27-31).

✅ This event is aimed at bringing together leading academics, researchers, and practitioners in the field of agroforestry to share insights, latest research findings, and practical experiences.

🎓The conference will feature a series of keynote speeches, panel discussions, and workshops designed to foster collaboration and knowledge exchange among the academic community. It presents a unique opportunity for relevant academic staff to engage with cutting-edge research and innovative practices in agroforestry.

💚We believe your expertise and contributions would greatly enrich the discussions and outcomes of this conference. We would be grateful if you could share this invitation amongst your (academic) staff and anyone in ICA network who might benefit from or contribute to this event.

📌More Information and registration: http://www.euraf2024.mendelu.cz/

Photo by PROJETO CAFÉ GATO-MOURISCO on Unsplash

✊8 March is a special international day dedicated to the recognition of women's rights.

On this special occasion, let us take time to celebrate the progress made, without losing sight of the continuing challenges.

💫 At IROICA we are proud that a majority of our members are women and that 5/8 of our Executive Committee is made up of inspiring women.

🤝 It is essential that we work together to create a world where every woman can reach her full potential, without barriers or discrimination.

📣Earlier this week the IROICA Executive Committee gathered, and together with our colleagues in Tallinn and Tartu we are happy to reveal the structure of our upcoming IROICA Staff Training in June: “Navigating challenges and opportunities in the era of global polycrisis”.

📌Note the dates: 10-14 June 2024 in Estonia

Herewith the sneak preview of the programme, where every day / part of the day we focus on one crisis:

💻Day 1 (Tallinn): Opportunities and Crises Ahead:
- General introduction to Ethical and Practical Dimensions of Mobility in the Time of Polycrises
- Opportunities brought by AI tools

💚Day 2 (Tallinn): Integrating Sustainability in Our International Activities
- 2 tons workshop
- CANIE: Embedding Sustainability Education into the exchange semesters
- Members best practices

🚌🌳Day 3: Transfer & programme in the forest

🌍🧘‍♀️Day 4 (Tartu): Internationalisation in the Time of Polycrises
- Geopolitical context
-Human Rights Policy
- Mental Health
- IROICA General Assembly

🆘🇧🇷Day 5 (Tartu): Safety and Crises Management
- Interactive workshop
- Practical aspects of mobility in times of polycrises
- Country focus – Brazil

There also will be a social programme: city tours in Tallinn and Tartu, Estonian Food Workshop and excursion to the wetlands.

More details will follow soon, so stay tuned!
https://www.ica-iroica.eu/

Photo by Jaanus Jagomägi on Unsplash

🎁Here’s a small new year’s present! The new upcoming IROICA Webinar is scheduled! We will focus on the topic of “grade conversion”, and we are very happy to have a speaker from UGent explaining the Egracons method, and a colleague from JUNIA explaining why they moved to pass/fail conversions and the implications of that!

⏰So take your agenda, and mark “IROICA Webinar”, on February 20, 3pm-4:30pm (CET).

▶️Registration is open: https://event.ugent.be/registration/iroicagradeconversion

💚 Train deals to turn Black Friday into

🚆 TGV : 500.000 promotional tickets (starting at 19euro) to travel by in France as well as cross border connections, between January 11 and February 11, 2024.
Link : https://www.sncf-connect.com/train/bons-plans/black-friday
Deal valid until November 26.

🚇 Eurostar : travelling with the to London for 39euro, or another destination starting at 29 euro, for travels between January 3 and March 16, 2024
Link: https://www.eurostar.com/be-en
Deal valid until November 27.

🚊 Interrail : 25% reduction on the Global passes! The discounted passes can be activated until 1 June 2024.
Link: https://www.interrail.eu/en/black-friday
Deal valid until November 28.

🛤 Discover and do good at the same time!
🚄 Travel sustainably and experience more
📅 Ideal for students travelling to their destination in the 2nd semester, and for everybody travelling into a more sustainable way.
🤲 The European rail joint venture also donates EUR 10 per pass sold to the Intrepid Foundation to promote social and ecological projects.

Journeys that make a difference The Passes on sale (25% off!) require that people begin their trip before June 1, 2024. By choosing one of our discounted Passes, you will help us make a difference in the following ways:

🤩We are thrilled to announce the dates of our next IROICA annual staff training, “Navigating challenges and opportunities in the era of global polycrisis”

📌Date and place:

• 10-11 June 2024: at the University of Tallinn (Estonia)
• 12-14 June 2024 : at the University of Life Sciences in Tartu (Estonia)

📆Please save these dates in your agenda, and join us in Estonia!
In 2024 Tartu will be the European Capital of Culture, and it will be our pleasure to visit the city in this celebratory year!

💻Information about registration and programme of the staff training will follow later.

👏🥇 Last October 19th, at the annual ICA Rectors and Deans forum, our colleague Matt Tips has been awarded the ICA EXCELLENCE AWARD in the category “Networking”.
We warmly congratulate him for this very well-deserved prize 🏆 !!
Matt has been a very dedicated IROICA President for 7 years and is still today a very active member of the Executive Committee as sustainability officer. In all his positions, he has always been supporting the development of our network of international relations officers. He is with no doubt a driving force of IROICA and he is without equal in connecting people and motivating them to engage in the network!
Thank you Matt for all you have done for our IROICA family (and beyond!!) 💐🙏🏽
😜

Last day to register for the ICA Rectors and Deans Forum 2023‼️

This annual ICA Forum, for Rectors, Presidents, Deans and senior academic and management staff of life science universities in Europe, aims to provide these university decision makers from ICA’s member universities with the opportunity to meet, to discuss current issues in the bioeconomy and life sciences, and to exchange views on these issues with relevant stakeholders in industry, government and NGOs.

FORUM FOCUS
The face to face Rectors and Deans Forum programme on the 19 and 20 October will have two half day sessions focusing on the strategic management challenges of AI and the onehealth for life science universities.

▶️More information and registration: https://www.ica-europe.info/registration-form

🌱We hope you all started the new semester well, with new energy from relaxing holidays!

🇳🇱 In two weeks we start with the promising EAIE conference in Rotterdam.

😍We hope to see many of you there, and we have two special IROICA events!

🤩On Thursday 28/9 at 3.30pm-4.30pm we have our own session “How to benefit from an international network: The success story of IROICA”! A huge hit that we can share our story at EAIE. We hope many of you come to support Hilde, Rasa en Matt while they are presenting, so you could cheer (loudly is allowed!) and share your own experiences with IROICA!
https://www.eaie.org/rotterdam/programme/programme-overview/activity/423.html

🥂Immediately afterwards, at 5pm we invite you all at the traditional IROICA Reception! We are all super busy in Rotterdam, but let’s connect for 30min-1hr, share a drink, some hugs, and leave reloaded for your next meetings. Place to be Booth B33 France Agro³.

🤗See you in Rotterdam?

Hope you all enjoyed a relaxing summer!

For those attending EAIE, who join us on a more sustainable travel to Rotterdam?!

5 Steps to Commit to Sustainable Travel:
1. Register for the EAIE Conference and Exhibition in Rotterdam this September.
2. Choose a low-carbon travel option: join the community. By filling out this short form (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdvK_3ODSAbIHhH1lXiHLc30V-UBAL4GXlVpdARzSnr1O48HA/viewform ), you let us know you are committing to a low-carbon way of travelling to in Rotterdam.
3. Find and connect with your travel companions! Join a convoy to . Find out who’s travelling on the same route; get to know new colleagues before you leave; and use your travel time to network and make friends. Check out the Go2RAIL initiative and start making meaningful connections: https://www.go2rail.eu/eaiexcanie
4. Let people know that you are a non-flying green traveller! Shout it out loud and clear on social media, share pics and videos, and use the hashtags .
5. Collect your “I Travelled Green” sticker at the conference (stop by at the EAIE stand) and use every opportunity you have to share your journey and why you chose to travel as part of the initiative.

See you on the train to Rotterdam! 🚂 💚

What a great 2023 IROICA Staff Week about Internationalisation and Sustainability! Great workshops, inspiring speakers, intensive networking and lovely social program!
Thanks to all participants, speakers and a special thanks to BOKU - Universität für Bodenkultur Wien and MCI Management Center Innsbruck for the amazing organization !
Congratulations to EMÜ Tartu for hosting the 2024 IROICA Staff Week!

📌CALL FOR ABSTRACT
In the frame of the Erasmus+ KA2 Final Symposium on AGreenSmart, the call of abstract is still open :
👉 https://lnkd.in/ex_mzhGN

Join the network of partners for this symposium:
Junia_ingénieurs ISA Lille - Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech - Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro - Perrotis College - NMBU - Norwegian University of Life Sciences SLU - Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences - University of Helsinki

🤓Today we had our webinar on Green Erasmus/Towards a more sustainable student mobility! Thank you Paola Di Marzo from ESN and Matt Tips from KU Leuven for sharing your expertises, and for you all for being so numerous present (+50 participants!) and very active participation!

💚This means this topic is really high in our minds, and its promising for our discussing during our upcoming staff event in Austria! https://www.ica-iroica.eu/

💻📣 Next week we are having a new webinar:
“Towards a more sustainable student mobility”!
As always it will be short (1.5hrs), a nice way to get new knowledge and stay in touch with your IROICA family! ❤️
If you attend the event in Austria later in June as part of a BIP, attendance this this webinar is obligatory.

So please join us, and share your good practices!
Registration is free of charge, so you can invite all your colleagues to join!

Event Registration Who will give a presentation about the ESN Green Erasmus project: | Green Erasmus Which contains lots of research, tips for students, guidelines for institutions.

💚📣 We are happy to announce our new upcoming webinar:
“Towards a more sustainable student mobility” on 1 June.

Paula Di Marzo from the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) will give us insight in their Green Erasmus project, and Matt Tips (KU Leuven) will share with us a good practices.

Please join us, and share your good practices!
Registration is free of charge!

iroica IROICA - Network of International Relations Officers in Life Science Universities in Europe

📍 🤩We are thrilled to announce that the registration for the 26th IROICA forum and training session on Sustainable internationalization is open.

Check the full programme, practical information and registration procedure here ➡️https://www.mci4me.at/en/international/iroica-conference-2023
Deadline for registration is May 26th
IMPORTANT REMINDER ❗️ This event is open to all, including non-IROICA members
Participants are eligible to the Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) funding; please contact your Erasmus+ coordinator
We hope to see you in June in Austria, at BOKU and MCI 🤝

🥳✍️Get ready! Take your agenda!! Important news!!

🤓🌍Last week your Executive Committee gathered in Innsbruck to prepare the upcoming conference! Thank you MCI for hosting us, and for all the work you have been doing together with BOKU, for the preparations!

🎓💚All speakers are settled! You van expect topics on SDGs in higher educations, greening conferences and a more sustainable student mobility!

📱🎉The website is about to be released! So, keep an eye on your mailbox, our website and this facebookpage! And make sure the dates are marked in your agenda already (pre conference in Vienna, 12-13 June, conference in Innsbruck 14-16 June)

🚈🇦🇹 Hope to see many of you there!!

ICA announces 3 workshops to be held in parallel from Wednesday 26 April to Friday 28 April at Warsaw University of Life Sciences. The overall title for the Workshops is Enhancing Student and Industry Engagement in Life Sciences Higher Education. An overview of the three Workshops can be viewed here https://www.ica-europe.info/overview-choose-your-workshop
The individual Workshops are:
1) Workshop Title: The Student Engagement Challenge
2) Workshop Title: Engaging with industry to ensure that graduates and professionals are well prepared for employment in the Bioeconomy.
3) Workshop Title: Embedding student challenges and competitions in sustainable entrepreneurship education

Sleeping across Europe. Night Train Network. Destinations 2023

Why opt for a night train? With a 28 times lower climate impact compared to air travel (EU average statistics), night trains are the most sustainable way to travel longer distances - while enjoying the scenery over breakfast and saving an overnight hotel stay.

High resolution: https://files.wegewerk.com/index.php/s/Mr8WX7WMT5gd66a

❗️EXTENDED DEADLINE ‼️

🌱ICA Biodiversity Challenge 2023‼️

MORE INFORMATION: https://www.ica-europe.info/ica-biodiversity-challenge-2023