The citation for the award stated “Since 2016, Kristina Orban has led the Mirots project, which aims to enable occupational therapy students to develop a professional identity and intercultural experiences. The project has been praised by the national assessment group for having integrated internationalisation in the programme, which benefits all students in a sustainable and innovative way.”
The prize of SEK 90 000 goes to the department where the prizewinner is employed and is to be used for costs associated with exercise of duties, development and participation in conferences, congresses etc.
Mirots stands for “Making internationalisation a reality for occupational therapy students”.
“It is a so-called Erasmus+ strategic partnership project, which aims to give students the opportunity to look beyond their own study environment and get an insight into the educational opportunities and living conditions of others from an international perspective.”
“It feels amazing to receive this prize. It gives us energy and the chance to look forward towards new and sustainable international tracks throughout the occupational therapy programme”, says Kristina Orban, registered occupational therapist, doctor of Medical Science and lecturer at the Department of Health Sciences.
The programme, which ran between 2016 and 2019, embraced internationalisation in the form of physical and virtual exchanges and collaborations for occupational therapy students at Lund University, the University of Southampton and the National University of Ireland, Galway. From 2017 onwards, students from a further three universities were invited to participate in virtual exchanges.
The project is an intercultural collaboration in which the students focused on human rights. The key elements of the project:
- Involved authentic community projects in several European countries
- Identified new arenas in occupational therapy at individual, group and community levels and reflected on occupational justice/injustice locally and globally
- Highlighted similarities and differences in healthcare and cultural, ethical, economic and social differences as well as environmental factors
- Aimed to identify groups in society that do not have the opportunity to carry out activities that they want, need or must perform in everyday life. Proposed how occupational therapy interventions can contribute to health, activity and participation
This includes children with disabilities, unemployed young people, migrants, homeless people, gambling addicts, people with mental health problems or cognitive impairments, the multimorbid elderly etc.
Kristina Orban was the project manager and coordinated all the activities within Mirots with Lisa Ekstam, also of the Department of Health Sciences in Lund, as well as colleagues at the University of Southampton and the National University of Ireland, Galway. In total, Mirots involved 643 students, 76 staff members, 87 local organisations and 6 European universities.
See a video (in Swedish) from the Swedish Council of Higher Education’s Internationalisation Days where Kristina Orban presents the Mirots project and talks about how they developed virtual mobility for students and how the project generates international experiences and develops intercultural expertise.
