Northumbria University welcomed students and academics
from the Islamic University of Gaza as part of a British Council-funded
project.
The project between the two universities offers
inter-disciplinary collaboration in the fields of disaster management,
international development, social work and engineering.
The visit was the first-time students across both
universities were able to meet face-to-face after two years of online
collaboration between staff.
During the visit, meetings were held with the
Lord Mayor of Newcastle, Cllr Veronica Dunn; the Deputy Leader of Newcastle
City Council, Cllr Karen Kilgour; MP for Newcastle Central and Shadow Minister
for Science, Research & Innovation, Chi Onwurah; and the Palestinian
Ambassador to the UK, Dr Husam Zomlot.
There were also visits to centres of
engineering excellence including at Northumbria’s campus, to local engineering
company ADM Automation, to Durham University, as well as attending the North
East Battery Alliance conference, held at Newcastle University’s Science Helix
campus.
The visit is part of ongoing broader research called the English
as a Medium of Education for Female Engineers’ project, led by Northumbria
University’s English Language Studies and funded by the British Council and
supported by the Arts
and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). The
project compares the experiences of female engineers at UK universities who
have English as an additional language, with their peers’ experiences in
Palestine.
The
collaboration between the two universities is unique because it offers students
across the three disciplines the opportunity to work with one another as well
as giving UK students the chance to work with staff and students from overseas
universities. Four out of the five visitors from Gaza to Northumbria were
female engineers, thus further inspiring Northumbria’s female students in this subject
area.
Some of the activities held at Northumbria University during the
visit included the Gazan students presenting four problems in
Gaza for Northumbria students to work on from engineering, disaster management,
international development and social work perspectives. Problems included
sewage treatment, hospital overcrowding, working within the limitations of 3G
and the lack of fresh water in the Gaza strip.
A Northumbria University engineering
student who took part in the visit, said: "I
wanted to express my gratitude for giving me the opportunity to participate in
the design sprint on the Gaza event. It was an incredibly informative
conference that provided me with valuable insights on working collaboratively
within a team. Over the course of those two days, I gained a wealth of
experience and knowledge that I believe will greatly benefit me in my future
endeavors. The interactive sessions, engaging discussions, and practical
exercises were instrumental in enhancing my understanding of effective
collaboration strategies.”
The project’s principal investigator, Dr William Guariento, Assistant Professor in Northumbria's Department of Humanities, said: “Feedback from students has shown that
thinking across disciplines, and about problems we in the UK so rarely have to
face, can bring truly transformative learning for all involved. We aim to
deepen our online and face-to-face relationship with staff and students at the
Islamic University of Gaza, to gain from their knowledge and experiences, and to
pursue further collaborative research.”
