KHACHATUR ABOVYAN ARMENIAN STATE PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY

A five-day workshop entitled "Action Research and Implementation” Plus Peace Mediation through Scientific Cooperation of Universities started at ASPU on October 29. Participating in the event are also representatives of the University of Bern, Switzerland, and the University of Tbilisi, Georgia.

Acting Rector of ASPU, Professor Ashot Khoyetsyan provided details about the project “Sustainable Development of Mountain Regions and Transformation of Conflicts in the Caucasus Region.” The cooperation between the partner universities has a history of some eight years, and as a participating university, ASPU is presenting at the workshop its methodology and research programmes.

in his speech Mr. Khoyetsyan stressed that being the only pedagogical university in the project, the institution he heads has a special place among classic universities in Europe, and it has caused a great resonance. “It has a number of advantages as well, as future educators and methodists ‘take’ important issues in the field to regions and communities. “Within the framework of the trilateral project, ASPU students and postgraduate students have visited Georgia, Abkhazia and Europe to take an active part in the ongoing activities. The programme also requires that representatives of three generations be included in it, and we strictly follow that requirement,” he said.

Further on, the acting rector noted that the project which includes the universities of Tbilisi, Sukhumi, Batumi, Yerevan and Bern, is aimed at promoting peace processes and the targeted use of territories.

The professor also spoke about the textbook published in different languages within the framework of the project. Also, a summary report providing an overview of the scope of the project was shown in the format of a film. As the acting rector noted, the move was an innovation from the Armenian side.

Dr. Heino Meessen of the University of Bern, a renowned specialist in the field of geography and ecology, focused on the trilateral programme to be implemented, the methodology of the work, emphasizing that in the coming days the directions of activities will become more vivid.

The first day of the workshop was summed up by Tigran Babayan, a cartographer of the Chair of Geography and its Teaching Methods. The latter presented a report entitled "Application of Triangulation in Qualitative Research and Educational Trends". He particularly dwelt on the ways of collecting qualitative data through quantitative data.

The workshop will be followed by three-day seminars which will be conducted in classrooms and fields, including Marmarik Valley and the village of Apna in Aragatsotn region.

The parties are expected to sign a memorandum of cooperation at the end of the workshop.