FinCEAL Plus started in January 2015 as an expansion and continuation of the FinCEAL Project (2012-2014), both funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture. The aims of the FinCEAL Plus project were to: 1. Increase and consolidate the Finnish bi-regional cooperation towards Africa, Asia, and the LAC region, with special emphasis on supporting Finnish researchers’ involvement in European bi-regional networks; 2. Support and consolidate the participation of Finnish experts in EU-Africa, EU-CELAC and EU- Asia bi-regional research and science policy dialogues; 3. Increase the knowledge about and visibility of Finnish cooperation towards the target regions within Finland; 4. Expand the awareness of Finnish expertise in the regions; and 5. Expand and consolidate the Finnish research communities’ awareness of cooperation possibilities with the EU, Africa, Asia and LAC region. 6. Throughout all the project activities, strengthening the Finnish universities’ global responsibility and making it more systematic and measurable.

The two-year project NAMURBAN (Urban Resource Efficiency in Developing Countries) pilot study of Walvis Bay, Namibia is research work of Satakunta University of Applied Sciences (SAMK) from Finland and Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), Namibia. The research is aimed at developing a framework for urban resource efficiency utilization in developing countries using Namibia as a pilot country.

The objective of the research and innovation staff exchange project is to contribute to solving the issues related to the youth unemployment in developing countries by developing participatory tools for human development that enable transformational change for the youth. Based on a service design approach, the project will provide tools for the marginalized youth suitable for daily use, enhancing regional democracy, increasing equal opportunities and contributing to human and service development with a particular target group: the San people, in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa and in the Omaheke region in Namibia.

The project is part of All Children Reading - A Grand Challenge for Development innovation competition by World Vision, USAID and Australian Aid. The purpose of the project is to pilot mobile teacher training service for better literacy instruction in Zambian languages.