The goal of the European GEReSH-CAM project is to bring about and structure a human sciences research and innovation policy in Cambodia. As such, it is a continuation of the projet Manusastra: in fact, it will support the development of training programmes set up by the Manusastra project by modernising establishments’ capacities and helping forge a research culture, both of which are necessary to a quality higher education system.
This issue is all the more important since ten ASEAN member countries signed an agreement to create an ASEAN community in November 2015, with the aim of creating a regional economic area able to play a major role in the world economy. As trade is strengthened in this way, the founding and governance of a research policy in Cambodia becomes crucial. The Cambodian higher education system suffers from a lack of institutional capacities and a degree of weakness when it comes to quality control.
This project, to be developed over three years, is funded by the European Erasmus+ programme on capacity-building for research and innovation. It is coordinated by Inalco, and brings together several European and Cambodian partners: on the European side, there is the University of Latvia, the University of educational science of Lithuania, the University Agency for Francophonie, the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development, and on the Cambodian side, the royal university of fine art, the royal university of Phnom Penh, the national education institute, the ministry of education, youth and sport of the Kingdom of Cambodia, and the ministry of culture and fine art.