Programma ALFA

ALFA è la sigla corrispondente ad America Latina - Formazione Accademica, un programma approvato dalla Commissione europea il 10.03.1994, con una durata di 5 anni con inizio dall’ 1.11.1994

I principali obiettivi di Alfa sono:

• sostenere la cooperazione tra istituzioni di insegnamento superiore dell’America Latina e dell’Europa, in modo da contribuire ad eliminare le disuguaglianze e gli squilibri tra i paesi delle due regioni, attraverso il miglioramento del potenziale scientifico, accademico e tecnologico dell’America Latina
• promuovere programmi di cooperazione mediante reti di istituzioni di insegnamento superiore dell’Europa e dell’America Latina, per la realizzazione di attività accademiche congiunte, della mobilità di dottorandi e studenti universitari, così come di altre attività che contribuiscono all’integrazione regionale dei paesi latino-americani ed a rafforzare l’interscambio tra gli stessi.

L’ultima scadenza per la presentazione di candidature nell’ambito del programma di cooperazione accademica è stato il 31 ottobre 1997.

Maggiori informazioni possono essere direttamente ottenute dal BAT/CEEETA, rue Joseph II 36-4, B 1000 Bruxelles; & (32-2) 219 04 33, fax: (32-2) 2196384

Le guide del programma sono disponibili direttamente su Internet (http://www.alfa-program.com/)  

Programme Guide

The purpose of this guide is to provide practical information in order to answer all the questions of higher education institutions interested in taking part in this programme.

1. Introduction

1.1 Objective
1.2 Structure
1.3 Activities
1.4 Participation
1.5 Budget
1.6 Administration

2. Participation in the ALFA Programme

2.1 Composition of a Network
2.2 Structure of a Network
2.3 Actions of a Network
2.4 Execution of the Programme
2.5 Submission of Applications
2.6 Financing of Projects
2.7 Selection of Projects
2.8 Selection of Grant-Holders
2.9 Follow-up of the Projects
2.10 Assessment of the Projects

3. Contacts for additional Information

"ALFA, an "inter-pares" cooperation" : Manuel Marin

More than 500 years ago, European culture put down its first roots in Latin American, where, combined with the cultures of ancient local civilizations, it created a unique culture. We should not forget that Europe founded the first universities in Latin America in the 16th century, including the university of San Marcos in Peru, as well as others in Santo Domingo and Mexico between 1548 and 1551. In return, Latin America became a source of inspiration for philosophical, political, and literary thought, including "Utopia" by Thomas More, the "City of the Sun" by Tommaso Campanella, and "The Incas" by Marmontel. All these works refer to Incan society as an ideal, a concept also found in Rameau's ballet "The Gallant Indians". We should also recall the great discoveries, such as Baron Alexander von Humboldt's discovery of the cold ocean current traveling from Antarctica up the west coast of Latin America, or the establishment of the earth's equator in 1788 by the French academician Louis Marle de la Comdaninee. All these things link Latin America and Europe in a constant relationship which is not only cultural but economic, the earliest landmark of which included the investments of the Flemish bankers Fuggers and Welzer in the form of capital to Carlos V of Spain to enable completion of the discovery of Latin America.

All the above makes Latin America today a place to which European culture must return in search of the roots it put down five hundred years ago, roots which flourished from the 17th to the 20th centuries through Latin American emancipation and later development. This is what enables Europe to view Latin America as a natural partner; when we consider that culture is the driving impetus behind many other expressions of human life, it is obvious that, to Europe, this pathway, which it has already traveled, is once again the best means to an understanding with a region now firmly setting forth upon the paths of development, and whose firmest links and foundations may be found in its mother continent of Europe.
All this explains why ALFA was designed precisely as a response of the European Commission to the need, on the part of both parties, for a dialogue capable of surging and developing from a common cultural heritage.

After intense study, the ALFA programme began functioning with the approval of some eighty networks, with many more to be approved in the near future. At the same time, it is therefore of the greatest importance for proper programme development to outline the framework of the Commission's expectations with regards to ALFA and its role in the development of relations between the European Union and Latin America.

Over the past few years, cooperation in development between the European Union and Latin America has been characterized, among other things, by an increasing emphasis on training. This is not the result of chance; it is the reflection of the growing conviction, on the part of both Latin American governments and the European Commission, of the fundamental importance of human capital in the process of economic development, as well as of the crucial role which inter- university cooperation may play in the rapprochement, mutual understanding, and development of economic relations between the two regions.

In fact, it is impossible to imagine the concretization of an intense and increasing flow of trade without a strengthening of training, particularly in a world in which rapid technological progress requires continual professional adaptation. It is precisely in response to this requirement, strongly felt in both regions, that the long- term objectives of the ALFA programme are directed. ALFA is a definite attempt to promote institutional and scientific cooperation to raise levels of training for the purpose of providing an impulse to the development, growth, and evolution of economic and cultural relations between the two regions. The actual achievement of these ambitious objectives, and many others, will depend in large part on the spirit in which the networks succeed in carrying on their work. I wish to mention the fact that ALFA's network structure implies the possibility of a new, more advanced type of cooperation which may be termed "inter pares". The essence of such cooperation lies in the fact that it implies contributions in both directions; Europe helps Latin America to grow, while Latin America simultaneously helps Europe to grow, offering new advantages superseding and abolishing the concept of cooperation expressed in the slogan "Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for one day; teach him to fish, and he'll eat for the rest of his life."

To make this a reality will require a two- fold effort on the part of the networks. In the first place, the projects, both in the fields of institutional and scientific cooperation, must be innovative (for example, suggesting the adoption of study curricula better suited to the conditions of demand on the local labor markets). In the second place, and this is a fundamental point of reference, every participating institution must commit itself to an active role permitting the creation of synergy in a process of gradual but continual improvement.

We may certainly say that, in the final analysis, ALFA will only succeed in reaching its objectives with the appearance of improvements in quality of far- reaching benefit to the universities of both regions.

Today's universities are the principal institutions able to practice true inter- pares cooperation, and, as a result, able to overcome the limitations of focusing upon a donor - beneficiary relationship which sometimes makes functional cooperative activity more difficult. Underlying the challenge resulting from collaboration between universities in the developed countries and those in the developing countries, is a common denominator: the university spirit. This spirit is common to all those who take responsibility in the university, and make training, both of themselves of others, the center of their own existence. The academic worlds of Latin America and Europe have great potential which, once placed in reciprocal interaction, will, together, produce a culture permitting improved training of future directors and executives for the public and private sectors. This is the culture the European Commission intends to create through a programme such as ALFA: a culture of cooperation, development, and solidarity between peoples. It is a culture of solidarity between those who assume the social and political responsibility of developing the potential of their own countries.

In conclusion, the hope of the European Commission is that ALFA will mark the opening of a new phase in relations between the European Union and Latin America: a phase based on closer, more profound collaboration between the academic media of both regions, a phase able to generate development implying new ways of seeing and viewing the world, reflected in all aspects of life.