University awarded a grant to develop partnership win an Azerbaijan institution

​Sabine Coady Schaebitz, Director of the Collaborative Centre for the Built Environment (CCBE) at the University of Northampton, has been awarded a British Council Co-operation Development Grant between UK and Azerbaijan Higher Education Institutions.

The grant of £3,000 will support concrete development proposals following a Memorandum of Understanding, which was signed between the University of Northampton and the Azerbaijan University of Architecture and Construction (AzUAC). Since then AzUAC had expressed particular in interest in the CCBE’s expertise in urbanism, urban design and community development.

To kick start the development, Sabine Coady Schaebitz will be travelling to Azerbaijan in April, joined by Peter Kokins, Lecturer in Architectural Technology in the School of the Arts. The visit will enable them to see relevant courses and facilities at AzUAC to scope various joint teaching options and to conduct staff workshops with relevant subject staff to explore potential for exchanges and joint research opportunities in the built environment. Taster sessions for students and information about student experience at the University of Northampton will be offered.

The aim is to get a decisive step closer to a concrete proposal based on the specific suggestion that the CCBE expertise would contribute to the overall offer at AzUAC through new programmes in the built environment. This would not only bring students from Azerbaijan to Northampton, but potentially also from the wider sub-region, as AzUAC is fast becoming a built environment education hub beyond the national borders.

Sabine Coady Schaebitz said: “I am delighted that through awarding the grant the British Council has acknowledged the potential of the CCBE expertise for Azerbaijan Higher Education. This is a fantastic opportunity to contribute to the development of an internationalised curriculum in Azerbaijan and to strengthen the built environment offering at the University of Northampton in preparation for the new educational geography at its Waterside campus development.”