The general objective of CAMINOS is to contribute to the deepening of the Latin American Higher Education Space by improving the capacity of universities, university associations, and networks to enhance, promote and manage internal, regional Latin American student and staff mobility.

 

Specific objectives

 

• SO1: To develop and promote a common mobility management model (Handbook) for universities, associations, and networks, with a specific focus on regional integration objectives, premised upon and linking existing South American bi/multi-lateral student and staff mobility programmes;

• SO2: To build the capacity of South American university associations and networks to work collaboratively to manage and sustain the overarching mobility model for the region

• SO3: To generate greater awareness for the impact of South American regional mobility by promoting a common monitoring system for the mobility model, to help ensure the quality of mobility and its recognition;

• SO4: To enhance dialogue both between European and South American universities/stakeholders and within Latin America, generally, on policies, tools, and frameworks to increase and improve mobility as part of the internationalisation/regionalisation of the higher education sector.

 

Through these objectives, the project responds specifically to the interest to better promote ‘structured’ mobility - mobility embedded in academic programmes that reinforces institutional cooperation. The CAMINOS Handbook will be premised on structured mobility; it will build on pre-existing mobility schemes of this nature and identify common good practices and desired underlying principles. Such mobility is deemed to have a stronger impact on institutional development and on the general quality enhancement and internationalisation of teaching and learning. Through the Handbook development, the Study Visits to Europe and the pilot projects, the partner universities in SA will gain are good practice and guidance in managing their mobility, and be able to better promote in particular internal Latin American mobility of students and staff.

 

In addition, partner universities and the associations/networks involved will also be able to further advance the topic of credit transfer in South America; previous projects and initiatives that have developed tools for credit transfer will be incorporated into the Handbook and promoted in the context of Focus Groups, Study Visits, and pilot projects.

 

Mostly notably, CAMINOS responds to the fact that intra-LA student/staff mobility is very limited, and tends to happen mainly in the context of bilateral agreements between countries and university networks. CAMINOS tries to align and link existing mobility programmes organised at the country/network level and create better harmony between them. It also aims to promote these opportunities more widely, within universities and at the country and regional level, to ensure they are exploited.

 

Finally, associations and networks will be better able to collectively monitor internal Latin American mobility of different types, assessing its extent and impact, via a common monitoring tool. This will help to improve the quality of mobility a.programmes in Latin America and ensure that they are evaluated according to common standards and criteria.