UNICREDS Project Holds Conference in Bulgaria
The European UNICREDS project has taken a further step forward this week with a successful key conference looking at how different models of higher education can benefit regional economic development.
The first UNICREDS conference of 2011 took place in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, and brought together representatives from across Europe. The event held on 18-19 January, examined how partnerships between universities and other further and higher education institutions, local learning centres and regional agencies can help improve the economies of isolated, failing or resource-poor regions.
UNICREDS is a €2million project majority funded by the EU in addition to co-financing from each of the 15 partners from Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Hungary and the UK. All the regions involved with UNICREDS share similar characteristics relative to the rest of their countries, such as distance from major cities, population demographics, and reliance on declining traditional industries. UNICREDS partners share real life experiences and knowledge of how the challenges of an underperforming economy can be overcome and how deprived or peripheral regions can be transformed into centres of excellence in research and innovation. The project includes partners at different stages of the journey towards solving these problems.
A leading Swedish academic on the topic of educational and business partnerships is Johan Sterte, Vice-Chancellor of Luleå University of Technology. He spoke at the event about his first-hand experience of a partnership between a university, the municipalities and the business world in the north part of Sweden. He said:
“It is of great value that regions with similar problems and possibilities work together to identify problems and to find solutions that will promote regional development. We all have a lot to learn from each other. "This conference is an important part of this process. It will give ample opportunities both for sharing experiences and for discussion.”
One of the key-note speakers at the event, was Nicolas Wallet, Project Manager for UNICREDS. He said:
“One of the key challenges facing universities today is coming to terms with their changing role in society. Universities, as major creators of scientific and technical knowledge, must be more deeply involved in the region they operate and develop a sense of awareness about, and responsibility for, contributing with real and novel solutions to real, local problems.
By talking to local companies, a university can develop courses that give students the skills that are needed on the job – creating employable graduates and providing industry with the competence to move forward and to grow, generating additional jobs in the longer term. The leadership of public authority is also needed, and could incentivise universities to make regional development an attractive part of their central business, such as widening access to higher education or engaging with SMEs.
UNICREDS is challenging the supremacy of the traditional university model and looking into the potential benefits that multi-university campuses offer - where several different universities work in partnership, pooling resources to reach new types of student and to develop collaborative research centres. Swedish examples prove that such partnerships are successful in gathering the critical mass of funds to go forward with research and innovation that ultimately benefits a region’s economic development."
The overall aim of UNICREDS is to understand the role universities play in economic development alongside the traditional role of education and degree supply. It examines the ‘triple helix’ approach to partnerships between universities, business and the public sector, and explores current and new ways of collaborating with a view to aiding knowledge transfer and building understanding of how universities can influence the economic development of underperforming regions. UNICREDS is ultimately looking to develop a transferable model for future education and regional development programmes that can be adopted by the European Commission.
The findings from the Sofia conference and the related research are expected to be delivered in June this year when a comprehensive report will be delivered to the UNICREDS team as part of the conference being held in Scotland, along with best practice findings and policy recommendations. These will be added to the findings from the other five conferences taking place over the three year lifespan of the project.
UNICREDS is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund along with each of the 15 partners and made possible by the INTERREG IVC programme.
More information is available at www.unicreds.eu.
ENDS
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Photo caption: Professor Johan Sterte, Vice-Chancellor of Luleå University of Technology, addresses delegates at the UNICREDS conference in Sofia, Bulgaria
Film footage available on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8RE2aCL3R8
Notes to editors:
- UNICREDS stands for University Collaboration in Regional Development Spaces.
- UNICREDS is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund and made possible by the INTERREG IVC programme.
- UNICREDS is a partnership of 15 partners from 7 EU regions who share the belief that decentralized universities can help transform deprived regional economies into centres of excellence in research and innovation.
- The ‘triple helix’ model is based on a multi-sited university and its integration with the private and public sectors.
- The aim of the UNICREDS programme is to share knowledge between the member partners, to further develop the triple helix model, and to ultimately lobby EU policy makers to adopt the model across Europe.
- Country-specific versions and translations of this press release will be available in the document library
- UNICREDS logos and brand guidelines are available in the document library
- Additional images of the conference are available in the photo gallery
