Kasetsart Initiative Report for 2013-2014 The 4th Education for Rural Transformation conference (ERT2013) held in Bangkok, Thailand in November 2013 by Kasetsart University in association with the Institute of International Education (IIE), Stockholm University led to the initiation of the Kasetsart Initiative (KI) as a framework for continued collaboration between partner institutions in Nepal, Thailand, Mauritius, Belgium, Australia, and China. The aims of the Kasetsart Initiative are to promote exchanges between the partner institutions and to undertake collaborative research projects. Cooperation in research and exchange between universities in different countries is a vital component in promoting the resilience and success of universities today.
The following are some activities that have been undertaken under the Kasetsart Initiative. 1. An MOU signed between IIE Stockholm University, and the Faculty of Education Kasetsart University aims to promote activities such as the following: 1) collaborative curriculum, 2) exchange of staff for academic research and training, 3) exchange of professors, 4) exchange of information, 5) collaboration regarding recruitment of students, 5) visits and exchange of students, 6) joint research activities, 7) mutual visits by faculty administrators, scholars, students, and staff. 2. IIE Stockholm and Kasetsart University have been granted financial assistance through a Linnaeus Palme programme for the exchange of teachers and students between IIE and Kasetsart. This assistance will facilitate long-term cooperation between the two universities. The first phase of the plan, which is the exchange of faculty administrators between the two institutions, has already been successfully undertaken.
3. An MOU has been signed between the Faculty of Education, Kasetsart University and the Institute of International and Comparative Education (IICE), Beijing Normal University with the same framework of agreement as the IIE-Kasetsart MOU.
4. The Faculty of Education, Kasetsart University has invited Prof. Joseph Agbenyega from Monash University, Australia to be a reviewer for the Kasetsart University Journal of Education. Prof. Agbenyega has also been invited and accepted the invitation to become a Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Education, Kasetsart University.
5. IIE has received financial support for the 5th ERT in Nepal at Kathmandu University (2014), for another ERT event in Thailand at Kasetsart University (2015), and for 2 final ERT events at Stockholm University in 2016 and 2017 culminating with the "2017 World Conference on Education for Sustainable Rural Transformation- ESRT". 6. IIE has also extended KI to other international institutions, for example to Addis Ababa University (AAU) in Ethiopia. At AAU a new Comparative Education Center is being developed with the aid of a joint AAU-IIE Swedish PhD funded programme from Swedish SIDA in the field of International and Comparative Education (ICE). IIE is also developing similar jointly funded initiatives with other KI partner institutions which will increase the expertise of our colleagues at these institutions.