GROW WISER AT THE WATER TOWER
Staff Academic Administrative Graduate
Debre Markos University, Ethiopia – In a momentous ceremony held at Debre Markos University’s campus, renowned academic and expert in land administration and geomatics, Reinfried Mansberger (PhD), was awarded the first-ever honorary doctorate degree by the esteemed university. The event marked a significant recognition of Mansberger’s relentless efforts and unwavering dedication in fostering collaboration between the University and international partners, resulting in transformative impacts on academic land administration and geomatics education in Ethiopia.
The partnership between Debre Markos University and Reinfried Mansberger was initiated several years ago. Through his visionary leadership and coaching role, Mansberger has spearheaded several major projects that have revolutionized land administration education in the country and supported sustainable development efforts.
**Key Projects Under Reinfried Mansberger’s Coordination:**
The groundbreaking journey started with a preparatory funding project that received a generous grant of 15,000 Euros from the Austrian Development Cooperation via the Austrian Partnership Program in Higher Education and Research for Development (APPEAR). This funding laid a strong foundation for the institutional partnership and provided invaluable insights into each partner university’s working environment.
Building on the success of the preparatory project, the EduLAND 2 initiative received a substantial grant of 490,000 Euros from APPEAR Academic Partnership Program. This four-year project enabled the establishment of the Institute of Land Administration at Debre Markos University. It facilitated the creation of state-of-the-art laboratories, supported PhD study projects, and conducted training for professionals at various levels. The project’s achievements were showcased to the international scientific community during an international conference organized by the World Bank in Washington DC in 2019.
The Edu4Geo Project, a three-year grant initiative under APPEAR’s Advanced Academic Partnership Program, received funding of 390,000 Euros and commenced on March 1, 2023. It aims to establish a Master’s Degree Program in Geomatics and introduce cutting-edge teaching and learning materials. Additionally, the project aims to incorporate advanced technologies like UAV-based geodata collection and the establishment of a Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) at Debre Markos University’s main campus.
The Li4LaM Project, funded with a substantial grant of 708,000 Euros from the European Union, is a collaborative effort involving eight universities, including Debre Markos University, and several northern partners. This three-year project, which commenced on January 1, 2023, focuses on modernizing curricula and integrating state-of-the-art teaching and learning technologies into the Ethiopian education system. It also plans to conduct case studies using innovative land management practices.
A two-year research project currently underway, WA2Land, has received funding of 35,000 Euros from the Austria Development Cooperation via Austria’s Agency for Education and Internationalization (OEAD). This project sheds light on the challenges faced by rural women in accessing land in North-West Ethiopia, contributing to a deeper understanding of gender dynamics in land administration and management.
Thanks to the strengthened partnership with Reinfried Mansberger, Debre Markos University has earned the distinction of being a founding member of Africa UniNet alliances. This collaboration fosters academic partnerships between Austrian and African Universities, opening up numerous opportunities for academic programs and collaborations with Austrian partner universities.Reinfried Mansberger’s unwavering commitment to the betterment of land administration education and geomatics in Ethiopia has left an indelible mark on Debre Markos University and the entire academic community in the region. His contributions have played a pivotal role in empowering students, professionals, and rural communities and have strengthened Ethiopia’s path towards sustainable development.
The honorary doctorate degree bestowed upon Reinfried Mansberger is a testament to his exceptional dedication and profound impact on the academic landscape in Ethiopia. As Debre Markos University continues to advance its collaboration with international partners, it looks forward to further transformative projects under the visionary guidance of Reinfried Mansberger.
ደብረ ማርቆስ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ሐምሌ 13/2015 ዓ.ም በዩኒቨርሲቲው ቅጥር ግቢ ሐዲስ ዓለማየሁ የጉባዔ አዳራሽ ባካሄደው ታላቅ የተማሪዎች ምረቃ ሥነ-ሥርዓት ላይ ታዋቂው ምሁር እና የመሬት አስተዳደርና ጂኦማቲክስ ተመራማሪ ዶ/ር ሬይንፍሬድ ማንስበርገር በዩኒቨርሲቲው ታሪክ የመጀመርያ የሆነውን የክብር ዶክትሬት ዲግሪ ሸልሟል። በዝግጅቱ እንደተገለፀው ማንስበርገር በዩኒቨርሲቲው እና በአለም አቀፍ አጋሮች መካከል ትብብርን ለመፍጠር ያደረጉት ያላሰለሰ ጥረት እና ትጋት በኢትዮጵያ በአካዳሚክ የመሬት አስተዳደር እና የጂኦማቲክስ ትምህርት ላይ ለውጥ ማምጣቱ ተገልጿል።
በደብረ ማርቆስ ዩኒቨርሲቲ እና በሪኢንፍሬድ ማንስበርገር መካከል ያለው ትብብር ከበርካታ ዓመታት በፊት ዶክተር ሳይህ ካሳው የሶስተኛ ድግሪ ትምህርታቸውን በኦስትሪያ ቦኩ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ሲከታተሉ ለእርሳቸው በአማካሪነት ተመድበው በነበረበት ወቅት እንደተጀመረ ተገልጿል። ዶ/ር ማንስበርገር በባለራዕይ መሪነታቸው እና በአሰልጣኝነት ሚናቸው በሀገሪቱ የመሬት አስተዳደር ትምህርትን ለማገዝ እና ዘላቂ የልማት ጥረቶችን የሚደግፉ በርካታ ዋና ዋና ፕሮጀክቶችን መርተዋል።
በዶ/ር ሬይንፍሪድ ማንስበርገር ማስተባበሪያ ስር ያሉ ቁልፍ ፕሮጀክቶች1. የአካዳሚክ መሬት አስተዳደር ትምህርት እና ስልጠና በኢትዮጵያ ትግበራ እና ማሻሻል (APPEAR መሰናዶ የገንዘብ ድጋፍ ፕሮጀክት)
ቀዳሚ ጉዞው የተጀመረው በመሰናዶ የገንዘብ ድጋፍ ፕሮጀክት ከኦስትሪያ የልማት ትብብር በኦስትሪያ አጋርነት ፕሮግራም በከፍተኛ ትምህርት እና ምርምር (APPEAR) በኩል የ15,000 ዩሮ ድጋፍ አግኝቷል። ይህ የገንዘብ ድጋፍ ለተቋማዊ አጋርነት ጠንካራ መሰረት የጣለ ሲሆን ለእያንዳንዱ አጋር ዩኒቨርሲቲ የስራ አካባቢ በዋጋ ሊተመን የማይችል ግንዛቤን ሰጥቷል።2. የአካዳሚክ መሬት አስተዳደር ትምህርት በኢትዮጵያ ዘላቂ ልማትን ለመደገፍ (ኢዱላንድ 2) ትግበራበመሰናዶ ፕሮጄክቱ ስኬት ላይ በመገንባት EduLAND 2 ተነሳሽነት ከAPPEAR አካዳሚክ አጋርነት ፕሮግራም 490,000 ዩሮ ከፍተኛ ድጋፍ አግኝቷል። ይህ የአራት ዓመት ፕሮጀክት በደብረ ማርቆስ ዩኒቨርሲቲ የመሬት አስተዳደር ኢንስቲትዩት እንዲቋቋም አስችሎታል። ዘመናዊ ላቦራቶሪዎች እንዲፈጠሩ ሁኔታዎችን አመቻችቷል፤ የፒኤችዲ ጥናት ፕሮጄክቶችን ይደግፋል ፤ እንዲሁም በተለያዩ ደረጃዎች ለሚገኙ ባለሙያዎች ስልጠና ሰጥቷል። እ.ኤ.አ. በ2019 የአለም ባንክ በዋሽንግተን ዲሲ ባዘጋጀው አለም አቀፍ ኮንፈረንስ ላይ የፕሮጀክቱ ስኬቶች ለአለም አቀፉ የሳይንስ ማህበረሰብ ቀርበዋል።
Edu4Geo ፕሮጄክት፣ በAPPEAR የላቀ የትምህርት አጋርነት ፕሮግራም የሶስት አመት የድጋፍ ተነሳሽነት የ390,000 ዩሮ የገንዘብ ድጋፍ አግኝቶ በመጋቢት 1 ቀን 2023 ተጀምሯል። በጂኦማቲክስ የማስተርስ ድግሪ መርሃ ግብር ለመመስረት እና የላቀ የማስተማር እና የመማሪያ ቁሳቁሶችን ለማስተዋወቅ ያለመ ነው። በተጨማሪም ፕሮጀክቱ እንደ UAV ላይ የተመሰረተ የጂኦዳታ አሰባሰብ እና ቀጣይነት ያለው ኦፕሬቲንግ ሪፈረንስ ጣቢያ (CORS) በደብረ ማርቆስ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ዋና ግቢ ለመመስረት እና የላቁ ቴክኖሎጂዎችን ማካተት ነው።4. የመሬት መረጃ ለመሬት አስተዳደር (Li4LaM) ፕሮጀክት
ከአውሮፓ ህብረት በተገኘ 708,000 ዩሮ ከፍተኛ የገንዘብ ድጋፍ የተደረገው #የሊ4ላም ፕሮጀክት ደብረ ማርቆስ ዩኒቨርሲቲን ጨምሮ ስምንት ዩኒቨርሲቲዎችን እና በርካታ የሰሜን አጋሮችን ያካተተ የትብብር ስራ ነው። ጥር 1 ቀን 2023 የጀመረው ይህ የሶስት አመት ፕሮጀክት ስርአተ ትምህርትን በማዘመን ዘመናዊ የመማር ማስተማር ቴክኖሎጂዎችን ከኢትዮጵያ የትምህርት ስርዓት ጋር በማዋሃድ ላይ ያተኮረ ነው። እንዲሁም አዳዲስ የመሬት አስተዳደር አሰራሮችን በመጠቀም የጉዳይ ጥናቶችን ለማካሄድ አቅዷል።5. በሰሜን ምዕራብ ኢትዮጵያ የገጠር ሴቶች የመሬት የማግኘት መብት፡ ተግዳሮቶች እና ውስንነቶች (WA2Land)
የሁለት አመት የምርምር ፕሮጀክት አሁን በመካሄድ ላይ ያለው WA2Land የ35,000 ዩሮ የገንዘብ ድጋፍ ከኦስትሪያ ልማት ትብብር በኦስትሪያ የትምህርት እና አለም አቀፍ ኤጀንሲ (OEAD) በኩል አግኝቷል። ይህ ፕሮጀክት የገጠር ሴቶች በሰሜን ምዕራብ ኢትዮጵያ መሬት ለማግኘት የሚያጋጥሟቸውን ተግዳሮቶች በማብራራት በመሬት አስተዳደር ውስጥ ስላለው የሥርዓተ-ፆታ ተለዋዋጭነት ጠለቅ ያለ ግንዛቤ እንዲኖር አስተዋጽኦ ያደርጋል።
ዶ/ር ይንፍሬድ ማንስበርገር ምስጋና ይግባውና ደብረ ማርቆስ ዩኒቨርሲቲ የአፍሪካ ዩኒኔት ጥምረት መስራች አባል በመሆን በልዩነት ደረጃ ተቀመጧል። ይህ ትብብር በኦስትሪያ እና በአፍሪካ ዩኒቨርስቲዎች መካከል የአካዳሚክ አጋርነቶችን ያበረታታል ፤ ለአካዳሚክ ፕሮግራሞችም ከኦስትሪያ አጋር ዩኒቨርሲቲዎች ጋርም ብዙ እድሎችን ይከፍታል።ዶ/ር ሬይንፍሬድ ማንስበርገር በኢትዮጵያ የመሬት አስተዳደር ትምህርትና ጂኦማቲክስን ወደ ላቀ ደረጃ ለማድረስ የወሰዱት የማያወላዳ ቁርጠኝነት በደብረ ማርቆስ ዩኒቨርሲቲ እና በክልሉ በሚገኙ ሁሉም የአካዳሚክ ማህበረሰብ ዘንድ የማይረሳ አሻራ ጥሏል። ያበረከቱት አስተዋፅኦ ተማሪዎችን፣ ባለሙያዎችን እና የገጠር ማህበረሰብን በማብቃት ረገድ ትልቅ ሚና የተጫወተ ሲሆን ኢትዮጵያ ወደ ዘላቂ ልማት የምትጓዘውን ጎዳና አጠናክሯል።በመሆኑም ለዶ/ር ሬይንፍሬድ ማንስበርገር የተሰጠው የክብር ዶክትሬት ዲግሪ በኢትዮጵያ የአካዳሚክ ምህዳር ላይ ከፍተኛ አስተዋፅዖ እንዳለው የሚያሳይ ነው። የደብረ ማርቆስ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ከዓለም አቀፍ አጋሮች ጋር ያለውን ትብብር አጠናክሮ በመቀጠል፣ በሬይንፍሬድ ማንስበርገር ራዕይ መሪነት ተጨማሪ የለውጥ ፕሮጀክቶችን በጉጉት ይጠብቃል።
Vienna, May 30, 2023 – Debre Markos University, in partnership with other esteemed universities, celebrates the acquisition of two grant projects, namely the ‘Implementation of Academic Geomatics Education in Ethiopia for Supporting Sustainable Development, Edu4Geo’ and ‘Land Information for Land Management, Li4LaM.’ The strategic planning and implementation activities, including the kickoff meeting, grant agreement signing, workshop, and excursion, took place in Vienna, Austria, from May 8 to 13, 2023.
The kickoff meeting commenced with opening speeches and remarks from prominent figures, including Prof. Doris DAMYANOVIC (Vice Rector for Teaching, Continuing Education and Students at BOKU), Prof. Wolfgang WAGNER (Dean for the Faculty of Mathematics and Geo-information of TUW), and Norbert PFEIFER (Head of TUW Senate). A total of 25 professionals, comprising 23 project team members and 2 advisory team members from Ethiopian partner institutions, actively participated in the event.
Edu4Geo, an advanced academic partnership program stemming from the previous project ‘Implementation of Academic Land Administration Education in Ethiopia for Supporting Sustainable Development, EduLAND,’ involves collaboration between four universities: University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, BOKU; Debre Markos University, DMU; Technical University of Vienna (TUW); and Bahir Dar University, BDU. The primary objective of Edu4Geo is to enhance the competencies of undergraduate students by implementing a master curriculum on Geomatics. This three-year project, which commenced on March 1, 2023, had its kickoff meeting and grant agreement signing in Vienna, Austria, on May 9, 2023. The grant agreement was signed by the project coordinators representing the partner universities: Dr. Thomas from BOKU, Dr. Sayeh from DMU, Dr. Gerhard from TUW, and Dr. Belachew from BDU. The kickoff meeting covered presentations and discussions on the project’s aims, work strategy, work packages, working plan, responsibilities, deliveries, as well as administrative and financial matters. Additionally, comprehensive discussions were held on the development and implementation of the master curriculum, provision of teaching and learning materials, capacity building, and other work packages and activities.
The Li4LaM project, funded by the ERASMUS+ program of the European Union, serves as a capacity-building endeavor executed through a consortium comprising eight universities: four from Europe (BOKU, TUW, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; University of Agriculture, Krakow) and four from Ethiopia (DMU, BDU, WU, and AAU). This project aims to modernize curricula and enhance the academic staff’s capacity by focusing on state-of-the-art technologies. Similar to Edu4Geo, Li4LaM is a three-year grant project that commenced on January 1, 2023. The project description and kickoff meeting for Li4LaM were conducted on May 10, 2023, during which the work packages and planned activities were presented and thoroughly discussed.
Debre Markos University and its partner universities are enthusiastic about the opportunities presented by these grant projects. The initiatives aim to revolutionize academic geomatics education and land management.
Vienna, May 30, 2023 – The Austrian Partnership Program in Higher Education and Research for Development (APPEAR) is making significant strides in fostering scientific cooperation and advancing development in partner countries. APPEAR, an abbreviation for ‘Austrian Partnership Program in Higher Education and Research for Development,’ is a flagship initiative of the Austrian Development Cooperation Programs. This program focuses on promoting teaching, learning, and research for development activities, with a particular emphasis on higher education institutions in developing countries.
APPEAR recently hosted an insightful workshop where project partners were invited to share their experiences in project implementation. Among the distinguished participants was the Institute of Land Administration at Debre Markos University, which has established strong networking and secured grant projects through APPEAR. This marks the second invitation for Debre Markos University, following their initial participation in 2017 during the execution of the EduLAND project.
The workshop, held on May 9, 2023, in Vienna, provided a platform for approximately 80 attendees to engage in productive discussions. Dr. Sayeh Kassaw, along with Dr. Thomas Bauer and Dr. Reinfried Mansberger, delivered presentations on the achievements of the EduLAND project. They also delved into the concept of ‘Equal Partnership,’ highlighting the success factors, challenges, and the importance of mutual knowledge exchange between northern and southern partners.
During the workshop, the team also shed light on the Edu4GEO project, presenting its work packages, main activities, and guiding principles. The audience actively participated, raising thought-provoking questions and engaging in lively discussions.
Dr. Tafere Melaku, President of Debre Markos University, delivered a compelling speech that emphasized the historical significance of the partnership between the two sister countries and the role of the APPEAR project in shaping the university’s trajectory. Dr. Melaku emphasized that the EduLAND project held special impetus within the university’s partnership program, being the first grant project in its history.
APPEAR continues to make a remarkable impact through its various project phases, including preparatory funding, academic partnership projects, advanced academic partnership projects, impact extended partnership, and Master and PhD Scholarships. The program announces open calls for projects annually, and the selection process is highly competitive, ensuring the funding goes to the most deserving initiatives.
To learn more about APPEAR and its contributions to scientific cooperation and development, visit [https://appear.at/en/]. Stay tuned for further updates and inspiring stories of success as APPEAR continues to empower institutions and individuals in their pursuit of knowledge and growth.
There are no upcoming events.
DMU Radio Broadcasting . . .