The 7 of March 2016 was officially opened at the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Cairo (9,000 students enrolled in the Faculty and 400,000 total across the University) the Interuniversity Learning in Higher Education on Advanced Land Management – Egyptian Country (ILHAM-EC) project funded by the European Union within the Erasmus + KA Capacity Building Program.  

ILHAM-EC aims to establish in Egypt a master’s degree on the theme of sustainable land management putting together four Egyptian universities: the University of Alexandria, Cairo University, the University of Damanhour and the University of Zagazig.

The project see also the participation of the School of Earth and Environment of the University of Leeds, the Department of food and agriculture of the University of Thessaloniki, UNIMED, and a company, Advanced Computer System, which will develop computer applications dedicated to the introduction of new tools teaching. The project has a duration of three years.

In Egypt only 3% of the land is cultivated and are present deep processes of desertification and urbanization that each year cause the reduction of arable land. ILHAM-EC aims at improving the level of theoretical and practical knowledge of Egyptian teachers and to develop new teaching methods for university courses with a strong multidisciplinary character.

The ultimate goal of the project is the establishment of a new joint Master in the Egyptian Universities coopted in the project training students in order to find new opportunities in the labor market on the theme of sustainable land management, a strong necessity for many countries but particularly for the countries of North Africa.