On Wednesday, March 29, His Excellency Mr. Mayerfas, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, visited Maastricht University, accompanied by the educational and cultural attache of the Indonesian Embassy, Mr. Dr. Agus Setiabudi. In a meeting with the President of Maastricht University, Prof. Rianne Letschert, Maastricht University staff involved in collaborative projects in or with Indonesia, as well as some Indonesian students and Ph.D. candidates at Maastricht University, diplomats briefed on past and current projects of Maastricht University in Indonesia and discussing prospects for cooperation in the future.
At the start of the meeting, the Ambassador explained that the Indonesian government’s vision for future cooperation between Dutch and Indonesian higher education institutions involved a stronger focus on collaborative activities involving institutions outside Java. While most existing projects involve leading universities in Java, the Ambassador stressed the importance of bringing institutions outside Java to the fore in collaboration with new and existing partners in the Netherlands.
In the meeting, Dr. Sascha Hardt had the opportunity to present the OKP LEAP project to the Ambassador, a collaborative project in the field of law between the Faculty of Law Maastricht and the Faculty of Law, Universitas Airlangga, along with five other Law Faculty partners. For Maastricht, this is one of the collaborations with Indonesia, besides in psychology, medicine, and public health. In his presentation, Dr. Sascha emphasized the importance of the Indonesian Legal Education Network (JAPHI), which was established as one of the lasting outputs of the LEAP project. The network brings together stakeholders in modern legal education from across Indonesia. It facilitates the adoption of new approaches to teaching and learning, such as problem-based and project-based learning.
As one of the few existing collaborative projects, LEAP actively involves five institutions outside Java: the Faculty of Law, Mulawarman University, Nusa Cendana University, Haluoleo University, Borneo Tarakan University, and Trunojoyo Madura University. All of these universities are parties to the MoU with UNAIR and Maastricht University with the aim of future collaboration. The Indonesian Ambassador appreciated the LEAP program as an empowering collaboration context, especially in higher education institutions outside Java. In this regard, LEAP and JAPHI fully align with the Indonesian government’s vision to advance educational equity.
At the end of the event at Maastricht University, Dr. Sascha also presented Mr. Ambassador with the book “Legal Education in the 21st Century – Indonesian and International Perspectives”, edited by the LEAP project management team.
