Open Access

Module 5 deals with the characteristics of projects, chances and challenges of project work and gives a basic overview of project planning and implementation tools and processes.

The PAQAF – the Pan-African Quality Assurance and Accreditation Framework – is an overarching framework for several action lines and instruments related to the convergence of the African Higher Education sector, and more specifically quality assurance and accreditation. It was adopted by the Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on Education, Science and Technology of the African Union Assembly in 2016. The implementation of some of the PAQAF’s action lines and the development of some of its instruments has been supported by the HAQAA initiative from 2015 to 2018 and is currently continued in the context of HAAQA2. Module 1 gives an overview of the PAQAF's deveopment and action lines.

The Ukrainian higher education system has undergone a number of developments since Ukraine committed itself to the Bologna Process in 2005. Internationalisation and quality assurance in higher education have thus become two core policy issues to aid Ukraine’s efforts in becoming a full member of the European Higher Education Area. Within the THEA Ukraine project (October 2019 – September 2021), 32 Ukrainian Higher Education Administrators received training in the field of internationalisation in higher education and science management. The participants worked on individual application projects to foster the international orientation of their home institutions, which are located all over Ukraine. The implementation of this project has provided material for a number of case study descriptions of projects undertaken in the THEA Ukraine framework, as well as general perspectives on internationalisation in higher education; this anthology covers both of these aspects.

Africa recognised the potential of digital transformation before the COVID-19 pandemic. With the Digital Transformation Strategy, the continent committed itself to support this change in line with the Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want with focus on investment in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) , the promotion of the digital economy and the adoption of open and distance learning in tertiary education. However, the pandemic has given renewed impetus for digital change in higher education. The shutdowns of educational institutions brought about by COVID-19 have demonstrated that teaching and learning can be re-designed and educational institutions developed further, with the sprouting of collaborations in and across countries and continents. The drive for digital transformation, which is now gaining momentum throughout higher education institutions worldwide, is of major significance in giving renewed stimulus to one of the boldest agendas that have been adopted by mankind, the SDGs, the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.