On 2-3 March Ilia State University hosted consortium members of the Erasmus + funded CBHE project "Strengthening the Quality and Relevance of the 3rd mission in Georgian Universities" (SQUARE) at the workshop: Current State of 3M activities at Georgian universities.

Speakers from 8 Georgian universities: GSTU, GTU, ATSU, BSU, TSMU, ISU, CU, and TSU presented the overview of third mission status at their institutions covering activities in the fields of continuous education, knowledge transfer and social engagement.

European partners of the consortium shared their experience while counseling and mentoring Georgian peers. They described the processes with main challenges and perspectives.

One of the highlights of the workshop was the study NCEQE has presented regarding the 3rd mission state in European standards. Both Georgian and European members of the project consortium were delighted to discuss the outcomes of the study.

During the 2-days workshop participants were given the opportunity to discuss each other’s experiences and conclude from where to continue the project.

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.

On July 5 and 6, 2021, Batumi State University hosted the second phase of the training in the framework of the Erasmus+ project SQUARE. The training was delivered by the project partners from CNAM and UTU. Ms. Maia Khajishvili, minister of culture and sport of the autonomous republic of Adjara and the first deputy head of the tourism and resorts department of the autonomous republic of Adjara, Ms. Tamar Kaikatsishvili greeted the participants of the meeting and delivered opening speeches. The training had a hybrid format, as two of the partner institutions – UTU and UNL could not physically attend the training, due to the regulations. Georgian partner institutions had the chance to reflect on their third mission activities, the mapping of 3M activities prepared before the training and the 3M skills and resources. Discussions were held and the European partners presented their feedback and view about the 3M projects, skills and resources. The Georgian partners will continue working to finalize the 3M maps and implement other activities of the project. 

The first phase of training was delivered online on February 22-23, 2021, by the European partners of the consortium – namely, Le CNAM and the University of TURKU. As the COVID-19 pandemic restricted traveling, the training, initially planned for 3 days, was split into two phases. The issues discussed by the trainers during the first phase of training was: The history behind the third mission; Driving Forces of the 3rd Generation University; Justifications and Benefits of 3M; 3M and the university’s identity, etc. (Detailed information can be found in Agenda here).

During the training, CNAM and UTU presented the overview of 3M in France (and CNAM) and Finland (and namely, UTU).

At the end of the training, activity to be carried out by each Georgian university was discussed. For the second part of the training, each university should prepare a chart map, identifying one’s position regarding 3M, specify and identify 3M projects and assets (current, as well as possible).