Strategic partnerships, networking, and internationalization

The objective: To trigger strategic partnerships and promote further clustering and collaboration through a well-thought-out cooperative process with other analogous and educational institutions at national, regional, and international level.

It is of outmost importance to ensure organizational and legal flexibility to facilitate potential linkages with new partners in the future with the aim of broadening the scope of UPCO. In this regard, work on the promotion of UPCO at national, regional, and international level should be based on the existing partnerships established between the UPCO co-founders and other institutions in Kosovo, region and beyond.

This will include, but not be limited to, UP associations with other regional and international HEI, sister cities of the Municipality of Prishtina that have analogous institutions to UPCO established or with which they in their cities, as well as KCC partner chambers and associations of commerce that work with cluster hubs of similar character Furthermore, cooperation in the framework of various EU and intemational programs should serve as starting points to identify the potential strategic parmers- ALLED2 through 1ts experts and collaborators will support in building structured cooperation links with similar entities regionally, from EU member states and participation in the netwvorks (such as EEN -Enterprise Europe Network).

The existing partnerships of the co-founders are very important and should be included. The innovative partnership betwveen the co-founders should open-up new opportunities to UPCO for better absorption of EU funds and development programs contributing to knowledge based economic and societal development of Kosova (such as IPA III, COSME, Erasmus+, EIT RIS, NATURA, Green Fund, and future Regional Challenge Fund etc.).

Action areas/activities:

To identify analogous enhance visibility institutions and at the accessibility national, for regional, and of and UPCO international undertakings; level and create
To categorize the needs of the identified industries as well as the co-founders’ access to innovative potential with sister HEI, sister cities and partner chambers and/or associations unleash competitiveness peer-to- and peer border to unleash peer-to-peer cross- collaboration, thus enhancing the opportunities for cooperation consequently igniting further clustering;
To design a participatory process that both, ensures the active partnership of the KCC and businesses in the curriculum design, and taps into the knowledge pool of t pool of business and industry need for sklls and competencies;
To develop develop tools and mechanisms that allow the creation of visibility and the prospective for internationalization of UPCO, thus easing UPCO’s entrance and participation in regional, EU and international networks (such as EEN – Enterprise Europe Network);
To ensure participation and a potential path forward to connect international expertise with UPCO;
To provide an environment conducive to develop a bilateral and multilateral knowledge hub and hence access regional funding;
To grow alliances in strategically significant areas between the university, the industry, and the public sector, by combining knowledge, intensifying joint infrastructure utilization, and engineering new knowledge through distinctive research.