During the past four years, the project IBTIKAR – promoting research and innovation environment in the Libyan Higher Education system worked to enhance the research capabilities of Libyan Higher Education Institutions and their capacity to produce and manage high-quality research, by increasing the competencies and skills of their academic and administrative staff. IBTIKAR was structured as a national project involving 11 Libyan Higher Education Institutions working together for the first time, willing to develop skills and capacity in research and innovation, and seeking chances to connect and network with peer researchers internationally. IBTIKAR was the first initiative coordinated by UNIMED in Libya, and the first cooperation project involving less-experienced universities new to the Erasmus+ framework. One of the main strengths of the project was indeed to involve, almost equally, more and less experienced universities, so as to provide horizontal support between Libyan universities: the most experienced institutions in the Consortium guided the others into a wider internationalisation approach, which included research as a key component.
IBTIKAR was well framed in a moment of profound renovation and modernization of the Libyan Higher Education sector, where research raises as a priority and a pressing need for the sustainable development of the country. Libyan universities worked to define their own research and specialisation strategies, support existing research centers and units, and define patterns of cooperation.
This was particularly clear during the project Final Conference hosted at the University of Tripoli on October 8th 2024. Great interest was directed to the event on behalf of many institutions, including the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in Libya, the European Delegation to Libya, represented by the EU Ambassador Nicola Orlando, the Italian Embassy in Tripoli, many Libyan HEIs beyond the project partners, and other organisations such as Expertise France, the Union of the Mediterranean and the Italian Agency for the promotion of the European Research (APRE).
“The support of the Erasmus+ programme and the solid interest of the European Union for the cooperation with Libyan universities allowed us to overcome the challenges and set the first tassel for the country’s development, in a wider regional perspective” stated Marcello Scalisi, UNIMED Director, in his opening speech. He called for Libya to open up to regional cooperation and continue the path of collaborations started with IBTIKAR. This was also underlined in his closing remarks by Dr. Khaled Oun, Rector of the University of Tripoli, pushing Libyan universities to take a step forward and assuming the responsibility for advancement: “Universities are not all at the same level: there are big differences in capacities, competences, contexts. Some are under development, some have made much progress, some still at the beginning. The cooperation between us will generate such a beneficial impact that we will all be more successful. We shall be more proactive, it is not impossible to make some efforts nationally, to benefit from the knowledge of other universities and reach goals together”.
IBTIKAR implemented different actions based on participative, collaborative and tailored approaches, reaching overall impactful results.
The project actions were all designed and implemented to raise the level of performance of universities, focusing on the identification of research priorities; the training of the academic and administrative staff (in research management and methodologies, critical thinking and soft skills, communication and transfer of research, and more); the reinforcement of the research infrastructures; all expected to raise the average level of research activities in the country, by creating the necessary skills and providing the necessary tools, complemented by the networking with European universities and the definition of bilateral agreements, as well as establishing connections between the Libyan Research and Consultation Centers themselves and with national stakeholders and institutions. Among the main achievements:
- Identification of research priorities and definition of the needs of Libyan universities.
- A collection of Inspiring practices to drive change in Libyan institutions.
- Drafting of the Institutional Research Agenda in each Libyan university to present the specific scenery in each institution and a vision for an integrated research area.
- A comprehensive Capacity Building action, where European trainers train Libyan Partners on the basic skills (both soft skills and technical skills) required to effectively run research and generate a social impact.
- A local Capacity Building action to engage the overall educational community at Libyan universities and open a space for dialogue in the university on research.
- The definition of a Roadmap for research activities, engaging different internal stakeholders (students, educators, leaders) and drafting lines of cooperation with the private sector, the national authorities and between RCC.
- A White Paper aiming at bringing the attention of decision-makers on the definition of a Libya National Research Agenda for the future.
- The improvement of the RCC labs and infrastructures.
- The definition of a Cooperation Agreement between universities (starting from the partners but enlarging to other Libyan HEIs) to outline a framework for harnessing the capabilities of Libyan universities to advance scientific research.
- Two in-presence events, the Harmonisation event in Misurata and the final conference in Tripoli.
The IBTIKAR Partners committed to continue training and engaging their university staff to ensure the project keeps producing an impact in their institutions in the coming years. Part of this process is to enlarge the project scope and to involve other Libyan Research Centers for the creation of a RCC network in Libya, starting from the project outcomes and needs, to define a cooperation agreement between Libyan centers to support research projects.
The high level of participation, commitment and attention paid by all Partners during the life of IBTIKAR showed the relevance of the initiative for the Libyan universities as well as their driving willingness to improve and perform at high standards. Thanks to this experience, we are proud to have become testimonials of the possibilities of the collaboration with Libyan universities, and the importance of connecting them with European institutions and to reinforce a positive wave of new initiatives as we have done in the past 10 years. To know more about IBTIKAR, you can consult the project website HERE.