The Interregional Internationalisation Initiative (3i) University Network – a collaboration between Kent and three other Universities – has awarded over €50,000 to fund six projects that will strengthen cross-border collaborations, and hopefully lead to larger grants for joint projects.
Tackling a range of challenges such as seaweed as a food source, arts and humanities as a source for health and well-being and coastal protection, the projects involve external partners and foster societal impact.
Hannah McNorton, Head of International Partnerships says: ‘This round of funding demonstrates Kent’s continued commitment to our nearest partners and the ambition we have in nurturing and extending these links. We are excited about how this investment responds to shared challenges and will benefit the population, businesses and other organisations in their respective regions.’
Created to bring together universities, regional governments, the private sector and society to work on challenges common to Flanders, Kent and the Hauts-de-France, the 3i Network https://www.3iuni.eu/en/home is made up of four universities in the English Channel and North Sea area – the University of Kent, Universiteit Gent, KU Leuven and the Université de Lille.
The projects and Kent academics that received funding are:
s3iweed- Seaweed as sustainable source for healthy foods. Rowena Merrit, Centre for Health Services Studies
HUMAIN – Humanities and Inclusion. Juliette Pattinson, Division of Arts and Humanities
DuneFront – Dune-Dike hybrid nature based solutions: frontiers in climate change adaptation . Zoe Davis, School of Anthropology & Conservation
IMPACT – Interaction in the Medical world: Pragmatic Analysis of Child-Centered Talk. Vikki Janke, Modern Languages and Linguistics
C2H2N – Cross-Channel Health Humanities Network. Dieter Declerq, Division of Arts and Humanities
CChESMate-2p- Climate Change and Energy Solutions through Materials Science: towards projects. Paul Saines and Maria Alfredsson, School of Chemistry and Forensic Science
You can find out more about the projects here