During August 22-25, 2023, representatives of the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, in particular, the administrative coordinator of the UniCom project, assistant professor of the Department of European and Regional Studies of the Faculty of International Relations Oksana Kraevska and the head of the department of career development and cooperation with business Iryna Snovydovych, took part in a study visit to the University of Latvia (Riga, Latvia). The theme of the event, which took place as part of UniCom’s Erasmus+ KA2 project, is “National regulation and implementation of the third mission of the Ministry of Education and Culture – experience and cooperation with public partners.”
Over four days, the participants of the study visit had the opportunity to exchange experience in the implementation of the University’s third mission in the context of strengthening the social and entrepreneurial activities of modern institutions of higher education. The main topics of the study visit were the experience of the University of Latvia in the implementation of administrative and territorial reform in the country, modern formats of cooperation between local authorities and universities, the interaction of universities, national state authorities and local communities, and ensuring the quality of education through the prism of the involvement of universities in the implementation of socially essential initiatives. The coordinator of the visit, professor of the Faculty of Business, Management and Economics of the University of Latvia Baiba Shavrina, created the most favourable conditions for effective work and acquisition of new knowledge and skills to increase awareness of the directions of development of higher education and cooperation with communities.
On the first day of the study visit, during a meeting with the former rector of the university, Professor Marcus Azunš and the Dean of the Faculty of Business, Management and Economics of the University of Latvia, Professor Gaidis Berzinš, the experience of the University of Latvia in the implementation of the third mission and vision “Formula “Future of Latvia – 2050” was discussed. in particular through participation in the PEAK project and territorial-administrative reform. The educators also learned about effective models of cooperation between the University of Latvia and local authorities from associate professor Lilita Seimushkane, associate professor Maris Pukis and graduates of the faculty’s educational programs Ingus Virčavs and Santa Sproge-Rimš.
The peculiarities of the national regulation of the third mission of the Higher Education Institution in Latvia were the main topic of the second day of the study visit, in particular, the formats of cooperation between the University of Latvia and the Parliament of the Republic of Latvia and the Ministry of Health of Latvia and other national bodies of state and local self-government. Thus, the rector of the University of Latvia, Professor Indrikis Muijnieks, spoke about the activities of the higher education institution and expressed his support for Ukraine and the desire to continue cooperation with Ukrainian higher education institutions. The rector also mentioned the successful implementation of joint bilateral and international projects and emphasized that such cooperation between universities is important.
We would like to remind you that the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv and the University of Latvia 2012-2016 successfully implemented the Tempus project “530360-TEMPUS-1-2012-1-GE-TEMPUS-JPCR development and implementation of multilingual teacher training programs in universities of Georgia and Ukraine”; international credit mobility project Erasmus+ KA107 ICM, and also signed a bilateral cooperation agreement in 2014. In particular, in 2023 the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv participated in the NAWA project “Supporting the cooperation of the University of Opole with Ukrainian universities within the framework of the FORTHEM Alliance”, whose partners include the University of Latvia.
Particularly interesting were the meetings with the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Latvia, Dr. Zanda Kalninja-Lukashevich, the Minister of Health, the former Director General of the Confederation of Latvian Employers Liga Mengelsone, and the Ambassador of Ukraine to the Republic of Latvia Anatoly Kutsevol, who emphasized the need for cooperation with the community and further improvement of the Ukrainian higher education despite the event of a full-scale war. The important role of universities in maintaining relations between Ukraine and Latvia was also noted during the meeting. The second day of the study visit ended with a discussion of ways to implement the third mission through cooperation with public partners and familiarization with the history and sights of Riga with the participation of the project coordinator, Professor Baiba Shavrina and Associate Professor Kristina Berzina.
On August 24, 2023, on the occasion of the Independence Day of Ukraine, the training program began with the performance of the National Anthem of Ukraine and greetings from the representatives of the University of Latvia. Further on, the participants discussed the features of quality management and ensuring the quality of education of Latvian higher education institutions through the prism of the implementation of the third mission: a specialist of the Academic Department – a quality manager Santa Bondara and education quality assurance expert Ieva Sturmane talked about practical interaction and cooperation with employers and their participation in the educational process, mentoring and support programs for students, as well as conducting useful training and workshops for young people for their professional development. Together with Professor Gunta Kalvane, Director of the Botanical Garden, Associate Professor Uldis Kondratovich and Professor Baiba Shavrina, the participants of the study visit got acquainted with the scientific and educational opportunities provided by the new Academic Center and Botanical Garden of the University of Latvia.
A visit to the estate of Kristaps Morbergs, patron of the University of Latvia, in the city of Jurmala was a special event on the last day of the educational visit, where associate professor Kristina Berzina and professor Baiba Shavrina shared stories of fruitful cooperation with stakeholders and successful implementation of project activities. Particularly interesting were the presentations on cooperation and interaction with University graduates, as well as support for youth projects, startups and business incubators: The student business incubator of the University of Latvia is the largest university project of this kind in the country. The incubator helps students and their teams start and develop businesses by offering comprehensive support, which, for example, includes the opportunity to participate in incubator workshops, receive support from mentors and coaches, access to an office, production facilities, as well as financial support in the form of grants and scholarships Every October, the incubator organizes a student festival of business opportunities “Icebreakers”.
In general, the training program was active and rich, and expert lecturers and speakers competently and interestingly shared their experience and practice of implementing interesting projects related to the implementation of the third mission of universities within the framework of interaction between universities and communities. The representatives of the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv note that they are sincerely grateful to the coordinator of the UniCom project at the University of Latvia, professor of the Faculty of Business, Management and Economics of the University of Latvia Baiba Shavrini for organizing the study visit and the opportunity to get acquainted with the best practices of implementing the third mission of the Higher Education Institution on the example of the University of Latvia. Thanks to the UniCom project and the study visit and communication between the Ukrainian and Latvian participants, sincere interaction and support took place, as well as interesting ideas about new opportunities for cooperation were born.
More detailed information about the project and its activities can be found on the project pages here and here. And also on the Facebook network.
