Tbilisi: The Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia organized a two-day conference, which was held within the framework of the Erasmus+ project “Enhancing Quality and Compliance in Georgian Universities” (SQUARE), which was opened by Deputy Minister of Education and Science, Nunu Mickiewicz.
 Nunu Mickiewicz welcomed the audience and talked about the importance of understanding and implementing the concept of “third mission” in the culture of educational institutions management.Â
According to the Deputy Minister, cooperation with the labor market, industry and civil society and other stakeholders under the project will encourage the creation of research and innovation clusters and the development of university-industry collaboration.
 At the conference, Georgian universities presented the vision and plans of the strategic development of the “Third Mission” universities developed in cooperation with European partners. European colleagues from Belgium, France, Portugal and Finland shared their experiences in strengthening the university’s “Third Mission”.
 It is important that not only the universities participating in the conference, but also all higher educational institutions operating in Georgia had the opportunity to participate in the conference.
The project “Strengthening the quality and compliance of the third mission in Georgian universities” has been ongoing since 2020, and eight higher educational institutions of Georgia from Tbilisi and the regions are involved in it. It aims to improve the quality and relevance of the activities of the “Third Mission” in Georgian universities.
The mentioned project envisages a clear definition of the mission and role of universities at the national level. Within its framework, it is planned to develop the relevant policy document and the criteria and evaluation methodology of the “Third Mission”, along with the updating of the national quality assurance system and accreditation procedures.
Representatives of Tbilisi City Council, National Center for Education Quality Development, European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD), Nova University of Lisbon (UNL), University of Turku (UTU), National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts (CNAM) and various universities and the Georgian Ministry of Education also took part in the conference. and employees of the Ministry of Science.
