Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University hosted an event as part of the institutional development project of the EU program Erasmus +, entitled “Responsible and Impactful Universities as Sustainable Growth and Enterprise Catalysts in Georgia (RiHEI).”

The representatives of the European and Georgian universities (Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, Technical University of Munich, University of Lodz, TSU, Kutaisi International University, and Gori State University) spoke about the goals and objectives of the project, existing European experience and ways of achieving the set goals.

TSU Deputy Rector Kakhaber Cheishvili welcomed the participants of the project and spoke about the needs and results that RiHEI defines. “The project enables the transfer of expertise from our European colleagues, facilitating the modernization of university programs to equip the next generation with special knowledge and experience to secure employment in the modern labor market. We hope that upon the project’s conclusion, cooperation with the European Union will increase in the areas of higher education institution capacity development, staff exchange, and multi-ecosystem network development,” stated Kakhaber Cheishvili.

According to Bartosz Kalinowski, representative of the University of Lodz and coordinator of the RiHEI international consortium, the project is quite difficult to implement and serves to transform all three missions of the university in accordance with a well-thought-out plan. He also noted that the collaborative efforts of European and Georgian universities will facilitate the realization of the project’s objectives.

The goals of the project are as follows: 1. Modernization, internationalization and increasing access to Georgian higher education for next generation labor market actors with emphasis on equal opportunities, gender sensitivity and the inclusion of marginalized (including better services to students from remote/rural areas). 2. Addressing the challenges faced by Georgian HEIs towards becoming a transformational engine of sustainable and responsible (environmentally, socially) engine of growth, jobs and enterprise creation by radically transforming how innovation production is being performed within universities and by training HEIs to become quadruple helix ecosystem mobilisers. 3. Increasing cooperation with the EU by developing a network of HEI capacity building provision, staff exchange and multi-ecosystem co-creation and by motivating Georgian HEIs to voluntarily converge with EU standards in higher education while promoting cross-societal exchange and collaboration, intercultural awareness, and understanding.

The project’s specific tasks are as follows: 1. To reform and modernize the governance of Georgian higher education institutions; 2. To strengthen student services and green campuses; 3. To establish new quality assurance units and processes/strategies in higher education. This will increase the capacity and efficiency of planning and evaluation units and provide better support to remote/rural at-risk social groups; 4. To create a high-capacity digital platform, which will serve as a repository for the project’s achievements, potentially becoming a hub for higher education institutions in Georgia seeking to transform their institutions into a sustainable and responsible (both ecologically and socially) universities.