International co-op partnership recognized with Global Best Award

UVic Co-op and Career’s international CANEU-COOP exchange program has been named a Global Best Award winner by the International education business Partnership Network (IPN).

Supported by the Conference Board of Canada, the 2014 Global Best Awards celebrate partnerships between educational institutions, private businesses and other stakeholders that enhance youth employability. UVic Co-op and Career and other winners will be showcased at the 12th annual IPN conference in Brussels, Belgium in September 2014.

As a winner in the European Region category, CANEU-COOP is also eligible for the Overall Category Winner and the Overall Global Winner; these awards will be announced live at the conference.

“We’re honored to receive this prestigious award for a program that has had such a powerful impact on participating students’ professional development,” says Karima Ramji, international coordinator at UVic Co-op and Career. “Not only have they grown personally, but they have also developed professional and cross-cultural competencies that will serve them well as they embark on their careers upon graduation.”

Launched in 2009, the CANEU-COOP program is a partnership between UVic, the University of Waterloo, FH Joanneum University of Applied Sciences in Austria and Baden-Wuerttemberg Co-operative State University in Germany. CANEU-COOP offers UVic and Waterloo students the opportunity to complete co-op work terms in Germany and Austria; FH Joanneum and Baden-Wuerttemberg students can travel to Canada for academic studies. The eight-month program includes one term spent abroad and one term at home. Through an innovative twinning model, students are paired with a “buddy” from their foreign exchange institution to provide support during their work term abroad and create lasting international friendships.

The IPN seeks to initiate international connections between education and employment for young people. Founded in the United States in 1999, the IPN is a globally renowned not-for-profit organization with a board of directors drawn from nine countries on five continents.