The project ‘The Tensions of Internationalisation – International and Transnational Educational Exchanges in Moldova’ (January 2026 – December 2026) was developed by the Chair of Diversity Education and International Educational Research at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) to be implemented in cooperation with the Ion Creangă State Pedagogical University of Chișinău in the Republic of Moldova. The project is funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) through funds provided by the German Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt – AA) as part of the programme ‘East-West Dialogue: Academic exchange and scientific cooperation for security, collaboration and civil society development in Europe’.
The project addresses the tensions of internationalisation within Moldova’s educational system, specifically through the lens of educational exchanges. Moldova’s nation-building process, which began after it gained sovereignty in 1991, and the conditions for educational exchanges are complicated by two major factors: Moldova’s special relationship with Romania and the separatist territory of Transnistria. These factors are further embedded in the geopolitical competition between the European Union and Russia. The project’s theoretical framework draws on research into international and transnational educational spaces, especially in post-Soviet countries, and includes studies of educational exchanges in conflict situations. It also applies the concept of the ‘vernacularisation of borders’, which emphasises the role of ordinary people in everyday border-making practices. Within this framework, the project addresses the questions of how international and transnational educational spaces and borders are constructed in cross-border educational exchanges, and how an understanding of these practices can contribute to conflict research and prevention in the region.
The project reflects on the development of internationalisation in Moldovan education, focusing on three key sectors: higher education, school education, and non-formal international youth exchanges. The project will systematically describe and analyse cross-border educational exchanges in Moldova, paying special attention to key tensions. These include the selection of cooperation partners, the dynamics between state-led foreign cultural and educational policies and private transnational exchanges by NGOs, and the different pedagogical concepts used in these exchanges (Goal 1). By involving established researchers, early-career researchers, and students, the project promotes cross-border academic dialogue and networks in the field of international education between Germany and Moldova, and contributes to the development of expertise among (early-career) researchers and professionals in this thematic field (Goal 2). By involving non-university civil-society actors, the project connects the theory and practice of cross-border educational exchanges and provides deeper insights for research and recommendations for educational exchange practices (Goal 3). The results will be presented and discussed at two dialogue forums in Germany and Moldova, making them available to the public beyond academia (Goal 4).
The project’s activities include workshops (online/on-site), a visit by a delegation from FAU to the Ion Creangă State Pedagogical University of Chișinău for preparatory workshops, a summer school for Moldovan and German participants in Germany, research stays for small-scale projects in both Germany and Moldova, and a final event (dialogue forum) in Chișinău to discuss and disseminate the project’s results, including a project-related publication.
Call for the participaton in the project (deadline 23. February 2026)