"There is a great deal of knowledge and expertise at the Palestinian universities, and increasing interchange among both staff and students is essential to enable us to learn from each other. Given that the universities are currently operating in difficult conditions, it is important both to build on existing collaborations that are the result of initiatives by Lund University staff and to forge new agreements," says Kristina Eneroth, pro vice-chancellor with responsibility for global engagement.
Lund University already has a collaboration with Bethlehem University, the first university established in Palestine, and this has now been expanded to Birzeit University and Arab American University, both located in the West Bank.
The collaboration is part of the EU-funded Erasmus+ Mobility Programme, which enables exchanges with higher education institutions outside the EU. Students from Bethlehem University have been coming to Lund on exchanges since 2023, and the two new agreements also enable teaching staff to spend time here.
“In addition to the enormous human suffering in Gaza, schools and higher education institutions have been destroyed in the war. We all hope that the war will cease as soon as possible and the Swedish higher education institutions consider it an important task, as far as they are able, to be a part of the rebuilding process for the academic institutions damaged or destroyed during the war,” says Kristina Eneroth.