Building Strategic Academia-Industry Partnerships

1 and 13 September 2021 – When academia, industry and policy makers work together, universities can become powerful engines for knowledge, employment and innovation. The benefit of such partnerships has long been obvious for academia: external research funding, significant inputs to keep curricula updated, the possibility of generating solutions for pressing global challenges and legitimacy – especially as academia is experiencing mounting societal pressure to contribute to economic growth. Today, new types of industry-university partnerships have emerged going far beyond the traditional research partnerships. This course will look at strategic partnerships through the lens of the “Triple Helix” framework, examining the roles of academia, industry, and governments. Participants will be developing their own case in groups as well as a systematic strategy for developing, operationalising, and sustaining partnerships within their own organisations.

Dates
The course will consist in two live online class sessions to be held on:
● 1 September 2021 from 11:00 to 13:00 hrs CET
● 13 September 2021 from 11:00 to 13:00 hrs CET

In preparation of each session, participants will be expected to invest a total of 18 additional hours.  The first session will be prepared individually, meanwhile for the second working in groups is required.

Course activities

Participants are being tasked with pre-readings and other activities to complete prior to the first session. This is a variant of the “flipped classroom” approach, which allows participants to use live classroom time to discuss and digest the material already studied in advance. Class sessions are interactive and rely on the exchange between participants to enrich the experience and instil in stronger retention of concepts and practices. In between the two online sessions, participants will be working in groups to prepare a study case. The winning team will be invited to present their work at the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) Innovation-Employability Seminar in November 2021.

Working language

English (no interpretation available)

Participants

Senior and mid-career staff from universities, research centres, industry, ministries, business accelerators, and other organisations interested in deepening their knowledge about academia-industry collaborative partnerships.

The number of participants is limited to 25.

Application / Registration process

Register by 9 August through the following form. Kindly note that a CV in English or French of the candidate is to be uploaded. 

Supported by the German Development Cooperation.

Background information

This course is part of the UfM initiative to reinforce the innovation-employability nexus in the Mediterranean, targeting universities, research centres, policymakers, industry, and intermediary institutions to collaborate in addressing the unemployment of highly qualified graduates. It further supports UfM’s objective to establish a Community of Practice, bringing together experts and practitioners from public authorities, social partners, and civil society organisations, to discuss, assess and disseminate experience and good practices, covering the priorities set forth by the Ministries centred around youth employment. This course is supported by GIZ on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany (BMZ).

This initiative contributes to the implementation of the UfM Ministerial Declaration on Employment and Labour (2019) and the EuroMed Valletta Declaration on Research and Innovation (2017).

For questions, kindly refer to info@paeradigms.org

About the UfM

Launched in 2008, the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) is an intergovernmental Euro-Mediterranean organisation that brings together the 27 countries of the EU and 15 countries of the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean. The UfM provides a forum to enhance regional cooperation, dialogue and the implementation of concrete projects and initiatives with tangible impact on its citizens, with an emphasis on young people and women as vectors of peace and stability.

As regional challenges call for regional solutions, UfM activities aim to address the main strategic objectives of the region – regional integration, development and stability – by concentrating efforts on two main pillars of action: fostering human development and promoting regional sustainable development. By joining forces with the regional and international community, and particularly with the UN System, the UfM is determined to address global challenges and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Euro-Mediterranean region through tangible and concrete activities and initiatives. www.ufmsecretariat.org