Since 2008, the Study Degree Program of Social Work at CUAS cooperates with the Algerian Ministry of Education, which has set up a functioning primary school system in the refugee camps near Tindouf. In addition to mutual visits and workshops, training needs for the teachers are identified. With the foundation of the University of Tifariti in 2013, it was possible to continue and intensify the exchange at the university level.

As part of the project, there is a mobility exchange between CUAS Study Degree Program Social Work and University of Tifariti (a university that is located in a refugee camp). The coordination of the project is mostly done by the International Coordinator of the School of Social Work Mag. Dr. Hubert Höllmüller.

The exchange enables the Austrian students, with their experience abroad, to better understand certain cultural and political contexts and to use intercultural skills in the care of refugees. Thus, they acquire additional skills for the European labor market.

Through their stay in Austria, the West African students got to know the global context, but above all the European culture. This helps them identify and discuss commonalities and differences in the two cultures. This knowledge and newly acquired intercultural competences should help them to cooperate with European countries in the future.

Above all, the exchange makes us aware that a university in a refugee camp, although it needs special forms of support, can be connected to a global world of science.

Through exchanges with colleagues abroad, the teachers receive new input for teaching and research with regard to future applications. Two young female academics have already been identified in the camps in Algeria to build a research team with them. This research team should be able to research their own refugee society according to international standards.

The project cooperates intensively with institutions in Carinthia (Diakonie, Kinderfreunde etc.), but also other universities (University of Innsbruck, University of Ljubljana). Accompanied by the project, a book is published in autumn 2018, which includes contributions from CUAS, but also from the University of Innsbruck, TH Cologne and the University of Ljubljana. The contact with guests from Algeria sparks a kind of reflection on working with refugees at the regional level. Organizing refugee camps is discussed by the Carinthian Provincial Councilor for Integration at the Austrian State Council meeting.

Professors and students of Tifariti University continue to share the experience of the project as part of their membership of the African Union.

CUAS has a long term cooperation with National Technical University of Ukraine (NTU “KhPI”) already since 2005 and works together in several Tempus projects exchanging students and professors, based on several exchange programms.

The ICM project is a prolongation of the idea developed in the TEMPUS project ICo-op in which non traditional laboratories where introduced however at this point it is essential to further develop the non traditional laboratories.

Within this project the incoming students from Ukraine join CUAS courses which help them to get a deep understanding of the technology used and also experience the non traditional way of learning through pocket labs. The incoming teachers from Ukraine receive individual tutoring during their stay at CUAS and are allowed to assist CUAS teachers using pocket labs during their lectures. Working with non traditional labs is considered to bring additional quality in the teaching process within technical study programs. By introducing the new methodology other educational institutions but also the small and medium enterprises specialized on this technology, can benefit.

The CUAS ICM project 2018 is a complex one and involves institutions from Western European countries (University of Skhodra in Albania, University of Banja Luca in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Heimerer College in Kosovo) as well as Armenia (American University of Armenia), Russian Federation (Saint Petersburg State University of Economics) and Ukraine (National Technical University Kharkiv Polytechnical Institute). The main aim of the project is to strengthen the partnership between the above mentioned institutions and CUAS with the focus on digitalization of teaching, joint online teaching modules, and training of specific interest.

The CUAS ICM project 2019 is carried out with 2 partner universities: Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) and Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) in South Africa. There is a successful collaboration with CPUT in the field of economics for student exchange for 7 years. The project goals include the following aspects: Lecturer exchange to gain know-how for innovative teaching, project-related practical applications in the field of business simulation, student exchange to impart intercultural and global competence.

The CUAS ICM project 2020 is characterized by its complex structure and the partnership with 7 countries. The following universities are involved: Algeria (University of Tifariti), Argentina (Universidad Nacional de Rosario), Armenia (National University of Architecture and Construction), Bosnia and Herzegovina (University of Banja Luka), Tanzania (Institute of Social Work), 2 Universities in Ukraine (National Technical University Kharkiv Polytechnical Institute, Kharkiv National University of Radio Electronics) and Russian Federation  (Saint Petersburg State University of Economics). The main objective of the project is to strengthen the partnership between the above-mentioned institutions and CUAS, with a focus on the exchange of teachers and students. Subsequently, the establishment of cooperation is intended to foster the development of joint teaching and research projects.

The ICM 2022 project of the FH Kärnten is once again characterized by the great diversity of partnerships.  Carinthian University of Applied Sciences cooperates with institutions in six countries on three continents. CUAS has decided on new projects with institutions with which it has already worked successfully. Thus there are again cooperations with the following institutions of higher education: Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) in South Africa. With the University of Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Universidade Federal do Recôncavo da Bahia in Brazil, the Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania and Holon Institute of Technology in Israel the Carinthia University of Applied Sciences has succeeded in gaining new partners. The main goal of the cooperation is to intensify the collaboration with the above-mentioned institutions through an exchange of students and teaching staff. A special focus is on the goals of internationalization of teaching and research at CUAS and to increase the mobility of students and staff.