Capacity Building in Higher Education: nEUROcare Project , 5^th Workshop 2023

The nEUROcare project is a European initiative for capacity building to meet the challenges of caring for people with neurodegenerative disorders in Sri Lanka. The Erasmus+ grant is funding this project. The core objective of this project is to create a master’s degree program specializing in neurodegenerative disorders. This program will be offered through collaboration between four partner universities in Sri Lanka and their European counterparts, with an anticipated commencement in 2025. The initiative aims to open up new avenues for healthcare professionals in Sri Lanka, enabling them to pursue advanced education and expand their horizons in the field of neurodegenerative disorders.

General Sir John Kotelawela Defence University (KDU), University of Colombo, University of Peradeniya, and University of Ruhuna are the four Sri Lankan universities selected for this nEUROcare project, and they are collaboratively working on this project with Kristianstad University, Sweden, which is the leading partner university. Moreover, delegates from other partner European universities, including the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia, Neapolis University Pafos in Cyprus, the University of Tartu in Estonia, and the Triskelion Institute in Norway, are collaboratively working on this project.

The 5^th international workshop and meeting of the nEUROcare project were held from November 7^th  to 9^th , 2023, at the Hotel Radisson Blu Resort, Galle, which was hosted by the University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka ,with the participation of project members of the eight partner universities. Rear Admiral Dammika Kumara, the Vice Chancellor of KDU, Dr. Prasanna Herath (Project Manager ,KDU), Dr. Kalpani Abhayasinghe (Project Member), Dr. Dinithi Vidanage (Project Member), Dr. Maliga Wijesiri (Project Member) and Mr. Chandima Kumara (Project Member) from the Department of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, KDU have participated in this workshop. Prof. M.D. Lamawansa, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Peradeniya, and Prof. Sujeewa Amarasena, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ruhuna Prof. SSP Warnakulasuriya, the country manager of the nEUROcare project, and Prof. KG Imendra, the Dean of the Faculty of Allied Health Sciences at the University of Ruhuna, have also participated in this programme.