On Wednesday, April 11, 2018, the DHIP project was launched at the National University of Cuyo, in the city of Mendoza, Argentina. The representatives of all the project partner institutions attended.  The Rector of UNCUYO formally welcomed all the participants and stressed the importance that the project has for his university, as it aims to strengthen internationalisation policies and to offer key tools for mobility, learning by competencies and the creation of specific spaces for internationalisation. The Vice-Rector of UNIPI highlighted some of the main characteristics of the project and the activities it plans to carry out. He also expressed his satisfaction at launching and coordinating this project it specifically in South America, adding that Italy and the South American countries, for historical reasons and linguistic similarity, have a tremendous cultural affinity. The works began with a detailed analysis of the work and with a presentation of the Projects, giving an account of the general objective, the five specific objectives, and the expected short and long-term impacts. The macro - activities (work package) planned with their respective sub-activities were also presented:

• WP1: PREPARATION OF THE IEP

• WP2: ADJUSTMENT AND ADAPTATION OF THE IEP

 • WP3: IMPLEMENTATION OF THE IEP

 • WP4: PLAN OF QUALITY

• WP5: DIFFUSION OF THE PROJECT RESULTS

• WP6 PROJECT MANAGEMENT

UNIPI also presented the Work Plan for the year 2018 and the monitoring and quality control activities and issues related to sustainability to be considered by the partners. Dr Laura Nelli from the University of Pisa presented the results of the survey carried out to the members, in which they were asked some necessary information about their level of internationalisation. In particular, the questionnaire dealt with the various sectors involved in the internationalisation projects of each partner university and namely: Institutional strategy; Internationalization strategy; International office, functions, activities, staff and partners; Research strategy; Research office, services, activities, personnel, countries with which it collaborates; Technical staff; Technical-administrative staff; Students; Student associations and student participation in university life; Linguistic capacities; Connections with networks and associations; Municipal, regional and national bodies; Trade Unions and Chambers of Commerce: areas of possible collaborations.

The project governance was appointed:

Steering Committee:

It is chaired by the Central Coordinator (UNIPI) UNIPI: Francesco Marcelloni

DEUSTO: Pablo Beneitone

UPORTO: João Falcão Cunha

UNISS: Michele Maria Comenale Pinto

UNQ: Leonardo Bertolino

UNLA: Guillermo Tangelson

UNCUYO: Hugo Martinez

FUNDACION EUROSUR: Gastón Helvig

UDES: Omar Camilo Mejia

UNIEMPRESARIAL: Goe Rojas

UPN: Lola Constanza Melo

UAA: Jesús Martín

UCSA: Clara Almada

UNIBE: Eduardo Velazquez

Executive Board

It is chaired by the Central Coordinator (UNIPI), assisted by the Eurosur Foundation as LA Activities Manager-Argentina: Juan Luis Mérega (UNQ)

Colombia: Omar Camilo Mejía (UDES)

Paraguay: Eduardo Velázquez (UNIBE)

Portugal: João Falcão e Cunha (UPORTO)