1. The DESL research project

The European Union’s Erasmus+ program is a funding scheme to support activities in the fields of Education, Training, Youth, and Sport, which is made up of three so-called “Key Actions” [Mobility; Cooperation and Policy] and two additional actions [Jean Monnet and sport]. They are managed partly at the national level by National Agencies and partly at the European level by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA).

In 2019, the research project on Developing Energy-Efficient and Smart Lighting Education in Vietnam & Myanmar (DESL) was funded under the Erasmus+ of the European Union with the grant agreement number is 2019-1993/001-001. It was signed on November 26, 2019, and will be conducted for 36 months. This project belongs to the key action 2 – Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices.

The project is involved by five country partners which include 09 university partners: the Aalto University – Finland; Technische Universiteit Eindhoven – the Netherlands; Univerza V Ljubljani – Slovenia; Mandalay Technological University and Yangon Technological University – Myanmar; and the HCMC University of Technology, Thu Dau Mot University, Eastern International University, and the Vietnamese-German University – Vietnam.

2. Research goal

Following are the overall aim of the project: (1) Raise the awareness and to identify needs and opportunities inefficient lighting, (2) Develop new courses in energy-efficient smart lighting based on the local needs, (3) Modernize the laboratory infrastructure to enhance the learning environments, (4) Enhance and upgrade the skills and competences of teaching staff, and (5) Strengthen the cooperation between university, industry, public sectors and society for the promotion of energy-efficient lighting.

3. Work Packages (WP)

The project consists of 05 Work Packages (WP):
– WP 1: Needs assessment and analysis (leader VGU – Dr. Chan Thai of Vietnamese-German University)
– WP 2: Development of new courses and lighting laboratory (leader TU/e – Dr. Juliette van Duijnhoven)
– WP 3: Quality assurance and monitoring (leader Aalto – Dr. Pramod Bhusal)
– WP 4: Dissemination, promotion, and collaboration with industry & society (leader YTU – Dr. Okka)
– WP 5: Project Management and communication (leader Aalto – Dr. Pramod Bhusal)

To ensure the success of our research project, we expect the primary outcomes per Work Package as below:
– Enhanced skills and expertise of students access to advanced education and research in the lighting field,
– Improved the academic excellence of teaching staffs, enhancement of skills and mobility of teaching staff,
– Improved quality of education and research in the area of smart and energy-efficient lighting,
– Enhanced linkage and cooperation between HEIs, Industry, public bodies, and society in the partner countries.

4. First step of the process

To conduct the WPs of the DESL project and achieve the expected outcomes, the project leaders and the representatives of 09 partners together had a kick-off meeting in Yangon, Myanmar, from 16 to January 17, 2020. During the two-day workshop, we discussed and finalized the responsibility of each partner in terms of project management, organization, financial management, and reporting. Moreover, Vietnamese-German University, the representative of partner countries together with Aalto University (program country), were invited to join the Grant Holders’ Meeting in Brussels, 27-28 Jan 2020, held by EACEA. The meeting provided useful information regarding research project management as well as the critical related notices.

The WP1 “Need Assessment and Analysis” includes two main objectives (1) Exploring essential needs and opportunities for improving lighting in Vietnam and Myanmar in terms of quality, efficiency, and sustainability through education development and (2) Identifying a variety of crucial shortcomings in lighting education in Myanmar and Vietnam. As the leader of WP1, Vietnamese-German University will coordinate partners to conduct the main activities, including:

– Awareness-raising seminars and stakeholder workshops [the workshop will be held at VGU on 2-3 March 2020].
– Prepare the questionnaires and conduct surveys.
– Need Assessment Report (propose/update the courses and lab equipment list).

The final beneficiaries of the research project are professionals in the building industry chain, lighting industry equipment producers and lighting efficiency service providers, and government officials, energy regulators, NGOs. The project intends to upgrade the existing courses and design new directions in energy-efficient lighting to train the workforce needed for the development of each partner country. The proposed project actions are also aimed at enabling teaching staff to receive upgraded training of skills as well as knowledge, provide them with the state of art tools for education and learning, improve their pedagogical and methodical capacities, provide international exposure and experience, and establish linkage and corporation among academic institution, industry, and policymakers.

* Vietnamese-German University’s project coordinator: Dr. Trung La Vinh (trung.lv@vgu.edu.vn); WP1’s leader: Dr. Chan Thai (chan.ttd@vgu.edu.vn).