On the 10th of March 3rd coordinating meeting between the Project Management Team members of the Erasmus + funded CBHE project Strengthening the Quality and Relevance of the 3rd mission in Georgian Universities - SQUARE was held online.

During the meeting, participants summarized the first year of the project and discussed each activity of the workplan. Coordinators from GE and EU partners agreed to modify the workplan according to the recent changes caused by Covid19. Attendees also discussed the financial reporting issues of the project as each of them were given detailed feedback on the materials they have already provided.

The coordinator of the project presented the report received from the National Agency of Erasmus + in Georgia and set the concrete plans to fulfill the recommendations. The attendees were introduced to the current situation of ongoing progress and challenges in terms of quality assurance, dissemination, and exploitation issues as well.

The project aims to improve the importance and quality of the third mission in Georgian higher education institutions with the involvement of top management and structural units. Provide methodologies and guidelines for higher education institutions to plan, implement and evaluate their third mission. Important is the fact that the ultimate goal of the project is to establish a regulatory document on the basis of which the role of the third mission is defined at the national level as a mandatory component of accreditation and authorization.

In the framework of the ERASMUS+ funded project “Strengthening the Quality and Relevance of the third mission in Georgian Universities" (SQUARE) representatives of the Belgian Accreditation Agency EFMD - Dr. Christophe TERRSASSE and Jean-Baptiste MAILLARAD visited Tbilisi State University on November 24, 2021.

A meeting with the rector and the working group of the project was held. During the meetings, European partners discussed the ongoing projects of TSU aimed at contributing to the development of the society, as well as the vision for strengthening the university’s third mission activities and the future plans within the project. Currently, TSU is working with EFMD to finalize the 3M inventory and map and the report on the third mission. Currently, there are 74 ongoing third mission projects within the university.

The project management team and other members responsible for the management of the project held a meeting in Batumi, Batumi State University, on July 5-7, 2021. The participants of the meeting discussed the progress made by far in the implementation of the project activities, mostly, following WPs– Preparation, Management, Dissemination and Exploitation and Quality Plan.

The coordinating institution, TSU presented the summary of the activities implemented throughout the project, as well as the activities needed to be completed by the members of the consortium. The changes in work-plan, caused by the Covid-19 crisis and subsequent restrictions were discussed. The plan for the future implementation of the project was discussed with the consortium members and agreed upon. 

July 7 was dedicated to the management of the project. The second presentation by TSU was dedicated to financial management and reporting. The European partner, EFMD has presented the midterm quality evaluation of the project and discussed with the partners the areas that need the most commitment from the partners. At the end of the management meeting, the partners finalized their discussions about the future implementation of the project.

On April 23, 2021, the meeting of the Georgian partners of the project funded by the European Commission, SQUARE was held. The meeting was held in the hybrid format, some of the partners met face-to-face and the coordinator of the project, Tbilisi State University hosted them. Due to the epidemiologic situation, consortium members were given the option to attend the meeting online. The meeting participants discussed the implementation of the project, in particular, the current activity – mapping of the 3M projects and assets, their progress and challenges. They exchanged experiences and ideas. The main aim of the meeting was to support the successful and effective completion of the current task through the sharing of experience and with the help of dialogue.

The first meeting of the Project Management Team (PMT) was held online on April 13, 2021. The PMT members discussed the progress of the project implementation and further steps. The dates for training, phase 2 were set. The PMT also approved the Quality Board and discussed other project-related issues – deadlines for the activities, the timeline of the project, etc.

The Kick-Off meeting for the project co-founded by the European Commission - SQUARE was organized online by the consortium leader, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, on February 17 and 18, 2021. The meeting was opened with the speech by the rector of Tbilisi State University, followed by the Minister of Education and Science of Georgia, Mikheil Chkhenkeli; Minister of Economics and Sustainable Development of Georgia, Natia Turnava; Director of the LEPL – National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement of Georgia, Tamar Makharashvili and Lika Ghlonti, Coordinator of the National Erasmus+ Office in Georgia. The Kick-Off meeting caught the attention of other universities in Georgia as well and first day was attended by guests from different universities.

During the kick-off meeting, important issues for the project implementation were discussed. On the first day, after the welcome speeches by TSU rector and guests, the Project coordinator overviewed the project. Before the presentations by the European and Georgian universities, EFMD delivered the presentation about the evaluation of 3M activities.

The second day of the Kick-Off meeting was mostly dedicated to the management and implementation of the project and aimed to deliver important information to the consortium members. Topics of the second day included: Project Implementation; Management of the Project Implementation; Quality Assurance of the Project Implementation; Dissemination. During the Kick-Off Meeting, the draft PMM was also presented and the members of the PMT and QB were nominated.

See the Agenda of the Meeting here.