On 9–10 October, in Spain, University of Valladolid hosted the partner meeting of the international project “Enhancing Capacity of Universities to Initiate and to Participate in Clusters Development on Innovation and Sustainability Principles” (UniClaD), coordinated by Kauno kolegija Higher Education Institution (HEI). Kauno kolegija HEI was represented at this meeting by the Senior Specialist at Projects Management Unit, UniClaD project Coordinator Vytautė Giedraitienė, International Coordinator at Faculty of Technologies and UniClaD Administrator Viktorija Gudauskaitė and Head of Applied Research and Commercialization Unit, UniClaD Researcher Dr Giedrius Gecevičius.

During the international meeting, partners from 23 institutions discussed the progress of the project and the already achieved results, as well as set further tasks and objectives for the successful implementation of the project.

UniClaD coordinator Vytautė Giedraitienė emphasises the importance of the UniClaD project, both in terms of institutional and national level: “UniClaD is the first project of its kind, implemented by the Kauno kolegija HEI  and united to achieve common goals by more than 20 partners from European and Asian countries. I am very pleased that Lithuania is a priority region for international cooperation of the Eastern European Partnership countries, for Moldova, Azerbaijan, Ukraine. Therefore, we are proud that Lithuania is an example of the good practice for these countries regarding the creation of clusters and the transfer of knowledge between higher education and the business sector.”

23 institutions from countries such as Ukraine, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Austria, Poland, Spain, Italy, Hungary and Lithuania are participating as partners in the UniClaD project, implemented under Erasmus+ programme KA2 action – capacity building. The main goal of the project is to create prerequisites for the creation of agricultural, information technology and food clusters by strengthening the cooperation of the business sector with higher education institutions in Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova. During the implementation of the project, centres of expertise are being created in higher schools of Ukraine, Moldova and Azerbaijan as future clusters. The expertise centers will ensure and strengthen the connection with companies, cooperation based on common economic interests will be promoted. In this project, the implementation and development of innovations created by higher education institutions in agricultural enterprises is being promoted.