Secretaria de Relações Internacionais | Office of International Relations

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused major impacts on several spheres of our society, such as in the area of education. At the level of Higher Education, the pandemic had a catalyst role in the consolidation of remote learning. Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina in partnership with Universidad del Valle (Colombia) were pioneers in this process.

The process began when the coordinators of the cooperation agreement between the two institutions, Professor Lívia Arcêncio do Amaral (Brazil) and Professor Esther Cecília Wilches Luna (Colombia), who were already developing projects together, established contacts with the offices of international relations of their respective institutions with the aim of offering undergraduate students from both institutions the opportunity to carry out exchange of academic experiences virtually.

In 2020, 23 courses were offered in the pilot program and 17 students from UFSC and 10 students from UNIVALLE participated in its first edition. The experience was considered very fruitful by both teachers and students, particularly in a context of such difficulties in maintaining engagement in the educational process.

The professors behind the initiative are evaluating the experience with the intention of deepening the existing cooperation, offering even more opportunities to the academic community of both universities.