Li4LaM - Land Information for Land Management - Research Group Geoinformation

Duration: January 1, 2023 – December 31, 2026

Funding: European Commission, Erasmus+ CBHE Program, 101083003–Li4LaM–ERASMUS-EDU-2022-CBHE

Duration: January 1, 2023 – December 31, 2026

Funding: European Commission, Erasmus+ CBHE Program, 101083003–Li4LaM–ERASMUS-EDU-2022-CBHE

Sustainable management of the resource “Land” requires up-to date and detailed geoinformation for decision-makers. Well-educated land administration (LA) professionals are providing this information for the tasks of land management by using satellite images, photogrammetry, and geoinformation technologies (GIS). Li4LaM aims to improve knowledge, skills and competences of LA students on collecting, interpreting, and analysing geodata. Li4LaM develops and provides state-of-the-art teaching and learning materials for in total 12 existing modules of LA relevant study programs offered at four Ethiopian universities. For each of the Ethiopian partner universities also one new module (5 ECTS) is developed tailored to the specific needs of land management in their region, and one module (10 ECTS) is elaborated for Lifelong-Learning (LLL) courses aiming to upskill local LA experts. For all modules, learning and teaching material is prepared for being delivered as online courses as well as for on-site courses. European partners will use selected parts of the material. For the four ETH partner institutions, a LLL strategy is developed and a handbook for quality assurance and accreditation processes for LLL is elaborated. Ethiopian universities have a severe lack of textbooks. Li4LaM will bridge this gap as teaching and learning material is provided in an electronic format, enabling a broader access for Ethiopian students. Teaching videos, animations, recorded lectures, pdf-textbooks, etc. can be downloaded from Learning Management Systems, which are implemented by Li4LaM for all Ethiopian project partners. Li4LaM will enhance pedagogic and didactical skills as well as the competence to develop state-of-the art teaching and learning material for all project partners in general and for the Ethiopian partners in particular. European project members benefited from the pandemic situation of the last two years, as the pandemic forced them to adopt distance-learning techniques.

Project Partners

TU Wien, Austria
Boku Wien (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences), Austria
Debre Markos University, Ethiopia
Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia
Woldia University, Ethiopia
Addis Abeba University, Ethiopia
University of Agriculture in Kraków, Poland
University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

Project Structure

WP1: Project Management
WP2: Module and Course Planning
WP3: Human Resource Development
WP4: Elaboration of Teaching and Learning Materials
WP5: Implementation of Teaching and Learning Environment
WP6: Pilots and Roll-out of Modules
WP7: Life Long Learning for Upskilling and Open Educational Pathways
WP8: Elaboration of Teaching and Learning Materials
WP9: Dissemination and Public Relation Activities

Project Activities

WP1 – Project Management
- Kick-Off-Meeting at TU Wien (May 10, 2023)
- Project Meeting 2 at Addis Ababa University (October 28, 2024)
- Elaboration of Project Hand-Book
- Elaboration of Mid-Term Report
- Project Meeting 3 at University Ljubljana – (May 5-7, 2025)
- Project Meeting 4 at Debre Markos University (or in case of travel restrictions to Amhara region) at Addis Ababa University – (scheduled November, 2026)
- Elaboration of Final Report
WP2 – Module and Course Planning
- Identication as-is-situation
- Elaboration of Conceptual Framework for lectures
WP3 – Human Resource Development
- Workshop and training on pedagogical and didactical topics at BOKU University Vienna (May 12-13, 2023)
- Workshop and training on developing innovative learning and teaching material at University of Agriculture Krakow (February 12-17, 2024)
- Workshop and training on selected professional topics of Remote Sensing – scheduled at Addis Ababa University (October 27-31, 2024)
WP4 – Elaboration of Teaching and Learning Material
- Content update for 12 existing modules and content development for 4 new modules
- Content elaboration for 4 LLL modules (based on modules to be new developed; one module per Ethiopian university)
WP5 – Implementation of Teaching and Learning Environment
- Conceptualising of servers, UAV and online-teaching facilities
- Purchase of servers
- Purchase of UAV and online-teaching facilities
- Implementation of teaching and learning environment at DMU, BDU, AAU and WU
WP6 -Pilots and Roll-Out of Modules
- Pilot courses (to be delivered for a sample of contents of each lecture)
- Delivery of updated modules and new modules to students
- Maintainance of teaching and learning materials and environment
WP7 – Life Long Learning for Upskilling and Open Educational Pathways
- Elaboration of a validation strategy
- Development of the validation process of non and informal learning
- Adaption of teaching and learning materials for LLL program
WP8 – Quality Assurance and Evaluation
- Development of a Quality Management Plan
- Evaluation activities
- Quality Assessment of learning&teaching material and course delivery
WP9 – Dissemination and Public Relation Activities
- Development and maintenance of project website
- Production of PR materials
  - Rollup
  - Poster
  - High visibility waistcoats for UAV pilots
  - Caps
- Communication in social and professional media
  - Facebook Site
- Communication in social and professional media
- Dissemination seminars at Ethiopian partner universities (DMU, BDU, AAU, WU)

Challenges

The security situation in Ethiopia is difficult because there is an ongoing war since July 2023 in Ethiopia. The effect was a complete communication shutdown in Ethiopia between August and November 2023 putting the project to a full stop during that time. As of June 2025, there still is a travel warning for all areas outside of Addis Ababa preventing the European partner to visit 3 of the 4 involved Ethiopian universities.

Project Aims

Train Ethiopian teachers on modern teaching and learning methods and in the development of innovative learning material with a focus on distance learning
Upgrade teaching modules at the Ethiopian universities
Provide the technical infrastructure to enable modern teaching methods (e.g., e-Learning platform)
Implement a holistic Lifelong Learning approach

Project Methods

Provide practical training for teachers on didactic and curriculum-related topics
Group discussions how to apply modern teaching concepts
Feedback on course material and provision of complementary materials
Discussions on Life Long Learning and common development of guidelines and approaches suitable for the Ethiopian universities