About ProGlobe
Promoting the Global Exchange of Ideas on Sustainable Goals, Practices and Cultural Diversity (ProGlobe) is an interdisciplinary and cross-cultural student project between Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University (H-BRS) in Germany, the Polytechnic Institute of Viseu (IPV) in Portugal, Fanshawe College in Canada, Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) in the USA and Shenzhen Technology University in China.
This virtual exchange provides students the opportunity to gain 21st-century skills by collaborating virtually with other university students in Europe and North America to raise awareness on the impact of environmental and social issues in the world. Its aim is to understand global issues from different cultural perspectives while working against misconceptions and generalizations.
Students explore their own sustainable footprints and reflect on the use of resources in a global context. Each student conducts interviews with students from each partner country to discuss environmental issues in four categories “food”, “water”, “transportation” and “energy”. At the end of the virtual project, students attend and present their findings at a virtual conference.
What’s new
ProGlobe Summer School Format – Blended Mobility
ProGlobe Summer School 2024 continued in Portugal
The second ProGlobe Summer School took place at the Polytechnic Institute of Viseu in Portugal from May 6 to 10, 2024. Students discovered three cities in Portugal – Porto, Viseu and Aveiro. Students from Canada, the USA, Portugal and Germany had the opportunity to learn more about the Portuguese culture and partner university while participating in a multidisciplinary workshop and participate in the three-day international conference INVTUR in Aveiro from May 8 to 10, 2024.
ProGlobe Summer School 2023 in Germany
From May 13 to 21, 2023, the first ProGlobe Summer School took place at Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg in Sankt Augustin, Germany. The Summer School was funded by Stiftung Innovation in der Hochschullehre (German Foundation for Innovation in Higher Education). 24 students from Germany, Canada, Portugal and the USA took part in the one-week Summer School with a design-thinking workshop on “International Collaboration on Sustainability”. In addition, students also presented their posters about virtual mobility at the international conference “Virtual Mobility for All” held at H-BRS.
Virtual Mobility: A new perspective for higher education
We pride ourselves in having connected more than 800 European, North American and Chinese students since 2016. Students used digital communication tools without having to travel long distances. ProGlobe brings a very important discourse on environmental and social issues into the classroom and shows the advantages of offering virtual opportunities so that students can learn from each other to better understand the world we live in without leaving their institution and gaining international exposure at home (internationalization@home). Some alumni of ProGlobe have continued the cultural exchange by visiting or studying in the respective countries (blended mobility). We encourage students to take advantage of the mobility opportunities at their institutions. However, the primary vision of ProGlobe is to foster virtual mobility and to encourage diversity, inclusion and sustainability.
How it began
Regina Brautlacht (Germany) and Professor Kristi Julian (USA) started their virtual exchange project in 2016 after meeting at an international conference. Both educators wanted to include authentic global learning into their curriculum. This was the start of an interdisciplinary project with students studying interior design in the USA and Management Sciences in Germany. The link between the disciplines is learning about environmental aspects in a global context which is relevant in both undergraduate degree programs.
