Al-Quds Open University participated in the 2^nd.  Project Management Meeting of the BREEDTECH "Building Capacity in Plant Breeding and Biotechnology education and Support through partnership program in Africa, Middle East and Europe for Agricultural Transformation ".  The meeting was held at Haramaya University in Ethiopia on November 18-19, 2024. The project is being implemented by the university’s Continuing Education Center in collaboration with the Faculty of Agriculture, and is funded by the Erasmus+ program.

The purpose of the meeting was to review the activities carried out during the previous phase and discuss future plans based on the proposed project timeline. It also addressed challenges faced during the project’s implementation and ways to overcome them, in addition to strengthening communication mechanisms between project partners.

Both Dr. Khaled Hardan, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, and Dr. Aziz Salama the project coordinator represented the university at the meeting. Dr. Salama presented the university's achievements in managing the Dissemination and Impact Work Package, for which Al-Quds Open University is responsible. He also provided an overview of the work plan for this package, the promotional materials developed for project activities, the strategies for promoting the project via social media, and the launch of a website of the project. Agreements were made with the partners regarding the distribution of roles and responsibilities within this work package.

For his part, Dr. Hardan emphasized the importance of expanding the scope of project promotion to include non-academic communities, such as farmers, civil society organizations, and decision-makers, in addition to academics, researchers, and students.

It is worth noting that the BREEDTECH project brings together a consortium of ten universities from Ethiopia, Kenya, Italy, Serbia, Sweden, and Palestine, aimed at enhancing the capabilities of researchers and educators in plant breeding and biotechnology, and utilizing these technologies to address the challenges of climate change.

The delegation of QOU concluded their participation in the meeting with extensive discussions on ways to enhance scientific and research collaboration with partner universities, praising Haramaya University for organizing the meeting and its warm hospitality.