Czech National Agency for International Education and Research Awards for 2025 Announced.
This year's edition once again confirmed that international education has an impact far beyond the boundaries of individual projects and their participants. The awards highlight projects financed from programs managed by DZS and simultaneously draw attention to inspiring practices that can motivate other organizations to engage in international cooperation. Awards are presented in eight cross-cutting categories reflecting the priorities of the Erasmus+ program and current trends in education. Among the project categories are Digitalization, Inclusion and Diversity, Participation, Sustainability, Flexibility and Innovation, and Internationalization. In addition, DZS also awards two individual prizes – Czech Footprint Abroad and Foreign Contribution to Czechia.
In the Internationalization category, the University of South Bohemia also had a nomination. The project "Africa is not Europe" stemmed from long-term cooperation between the Faculty of Theology at USB with Zambia in Africa. It enabled social work students to learn about different approaches than those they are accustomed to in Czechia and to learn from one another. Conversely, students from the partner Cavendish University in Zambia received a unique opportunity to become acquainted with European approaches to working with people, whom they often work with in Zambia without sufficient professional support. Three Zambian students participated in classes at the Faculty of Theology of the University of South Bohemia and worked in close contact with instructors. In addition to lectures and seminars, they had access to professional literature, online databases, and individual consultations. The stay included professional internships in Czech social services, focused on work with people with disabilities, seniors, and children with special needs. These are precisely the areas that represent a major challenge in Zambia, and the experience students gained here can be directly applied in their future professional careers.
Czech students and academics, in turn, expanded their professional knowledge, intercultural skills, and language competencies and confronted their own approaches with a different social and cultural environment. The project "Africa is not Europe" demonstrated that international academic cooperation can primarily be about meeting people, sharing experiences, and mutual learning, rather than the one-way transfer of knowledge. It also deepened sustainable education, contributed to achieving sustainable development goals, and strengthened the international prestige of the University of South Bohemia.
Like all nominated projects, this one from the University of South Bohemia also contributed to the development of openness, tolerance, and mutual understanding.
The University of South Bohemia has previously received the DZS Award in the Internationalization category. In 2022, the Summer College project in České Budějovice and Poděbrady won. USB, together with the Universität Wien, organizes annual meetings for students from the Czech Republic and Austria, who have a unique opportunity to improve their language skills in the partner country and to familiarize themselves with the culture and history through direct contact. Details about the project here: PF JU - Katedra germanistiky - Sommerkolleg České Budějovice
Award-Winning Projects and Individuals in 2025:
DIGITALIZATION
Education in Using Virtual Reality in Supported Employment and Career Counselling
Aspekt z.s.
INCLUSION AND DIVERSITY
For a Better Future
Generation of a Better Future
PARTICIPATION
Giving Students a Voice
Trojské gymnázium, s.r.o.
SUSTAINABILITY
Landscape and Climate Change Adaptation in Education
Czech Technical University in Prague
FLEXIBILITY AND INNOVATION
Boccia League of Nations – An Opportunity for Sport and Inclusion
Emilova sportovní, z.s.
INTERNATIONALIZATION
Urban Hybrid Graz | Brno – Joint Studios in Architectural Education 2024
Brno University of Technology
CZECH FOOTPRINT ABROAD
Jana Štillerová
FOREIGN CONTRIBUTION TO CZECHIA
Hana Vařejková
