-200x106.jpg)
News & updates
UNIC partners participating in UCC's Good Practice Symposium
At the Good Practice Symposium at University College Cork on 19th May, three of the case study posters displayed were submissions from our UNIC partner, University of Łódź.
The theme of the event was Belonging, and it showcased case studies which functioned to cultivate belonging in UCC and within the wider UCC community - including UNIC. The case studies submitted from Łódź included a student photography project across UNIC cities, a study evaluating the quality and visibility of support services provided by higher education institutions in Poland, and a study on the prevention of isolation of Erasmus+ exchange students.
Dr Alicja Piotrowska of University of Łódź as well as Weronika Balcerczak and Julia Fieńko, two University of Łódź students currently on Erasmus mobility in Limerick, attended the UCC Good Practice Symposium in person.
Dr Piotrowska presented a poster on the photography project and exhibition, titled “Unicality and Belonging: Interdisciplinary Student Photography Project.” The project was organised by the Faculty of Philosophy and History at the University of Łódź, under the academic supervision of Dr Piotrowska, Prof. Aneta Pawłowska, and Dr Adam Drozdowski.
Dr Piotrowska explained that the aim of the project was to engage students in “discovering and interpreting the identities of partner cities and universities through research and artistic activities.” She described how the case study demonstrated the way in which “students are involved in building ties with their own academic institutions and with the international UNIC community.”
She found the symposium inspiring, particularly “the talks and presentations showing how initiatives to promote inclusion and community-building are carried out not only by academic staff, but also by administrative staff and the students themselves.”
The stay in Cork also gave Dr Piotrowska the opportunity to explore the UCC campus and the city of Cork, which had been visited by one of the student groups working on the photography project. She was able to meet with Simone O’Rourke, Project Manager at UNIC at UCC, and to “discuss possibilities for further new areas of inter-university cooperation.”
The Good Practice Symposium is grounded in UCC’s commitment to fostering an inclusive and understanding environment, as outlined in its Global Engagement Strategy under its fourth pillar: Global Citizenship.