INTERFACE – Developing and setting up measures for initiating, enhancing and sustaining Higher-Education-Society Cooperation (Partner)

The objectives of the project "INTERFACE" were: to contribute to ensure that the targeted Universities (PCU) could to facilitate the graduates’ entrance into the labour market through enhanced partnerships with enterprises; to set up – based on these partnerships – an institutionalised lifelong learning (LLL) system; and to establish a quality improvement system through coordinated contact with alumni.

More specifically, the project aimed at enhancing the employability of alumni, at ensuring LLL and on the job training for academics, at fostering transfer and multiplication of knowledge to society and thus at combatting brain drain. Moreover, the institutionalised contact to alumni working for enterprises would help setting up a continuous learning and quality improvement system at the PCUs using the input given by their alumni.

In order to achieve these goals, firstly, each PCU was to conduct an analysis of already existing activities related to the domain of this project. Additionally, good practice examples from the EU partner universities (EUU) were to be reviewed. Secondly, a strategy was to be developed at each PCU on how to fill the existing gaps when it came to setting up linkages to enterprises and society at large. Thirdly, so called Interface Centers (IC) were to be established at each PCU, which would be the main responsible body at each PCU with regard to the universities' relations with students about to graduate, with alumni, with enterprises and with society at large.

The ICs were to launch their operations through the implementation of a pilot project at each IC dealing with either career counselling, alumni relations or LLL.

The results achieved within this project were to be disseminated through roadshows, open days, a web portal and a visibility package and through the final conference and local workshops which were open to the public.

3-year business plans were to be developed to ensure the sustainability of the ICs beyond the project period.