"We are looking forward to starting this project, which conforms quite well with the Minister of International Development Nikolai Astrup's, polices” say Professor Caroline Ditlev-Simonsen and Professor Marianne Jahre.
Ditlev-Simonsen is responsible for the collaboration with the School of Business at Mzumbe University, while Jahre is responsible for the cooperation with the College of Business and Economics at Jimma University. They received funds through NORPART 2018.
SUSTAIN aims to contribute to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), which are also part of BI's strategy. The project aims to promote international understanding, intercultural competence and build international networks for academics and students in the three countries.
"A central theme will be business development. We will be dealing with issues related to supply chains, environmental concerns, renewable energy, transport, digitisation, health and corruption," Ditlev-Simonsen said.
In addition to the professional collaborations by revising the existing teaching program and collaborating to develop new academic courses, the group aims to create an exchange program for more than 150 students. Conferences and seminars will also be conducted. Cooperation with the business community, NGOs and the authorities are key elements of this project.