The Kick-Off Meeting for VAMOS took place from February 23-26, 2021. All partners got together on Zoom to kick-off the 2-year program focused on virtual exchange. Uppsala University as the program coordinator led the meetings and invited every partner to introduce their institutions and themselves in pop-up sessions.

Each of the four days focused on a different theme. February 23, the first day of the kick-off meeting, was designed in a way which allowed the partners to get to know each other and familiarize with the topic of virtual exchange through several presentations about VAMOS, personal introduction rounds, and team building activities. In addition, Sarah Guth, president of UNIcollaboration, led a workshop on virtual exchange.

During the second day, all partners learned more about the administration and management of VAMOS through different presentations.

On the third day, Shepherd Urenje from the Swedish International Centre of Education for Sustainable Development (SWEDESD) shared insights in Education for Sustainable Development with all VAMOS partners. He gave a presentation on teaching and learning in the 21st century – a century in which we are facing complex and intersectional wicked problems affecting society, the environment, as well as the economy. To address these problems, we need to embrace transformative learning which enriches our knowledge, skills, and capacity to deal with future uncertainty. 

The fourth and final day of our kick-off meeting started with a session in which our program coordinator introduced our work plan for 2021. All members accepted the management plan while also discussing important deadlines for the upcoming months. 

The kick-off meeting ended with an open discussion round on the relevance of VAMOS. During this last session, Robert Guerra from UFPE, Audry Orellana from UNACIFOR, and Sarah Guth from UNIcollaboration reflected on VAMOS’ relevance for Brazil, Honduras, and the EU, respectively.