Every six months the project partners have an opportunity to meet in person for management issues, work sessions, and co-development of the program.
May’s management meeting was held in conjunction with the international scientific conference “European Integration through the straightening of education, research, innovations in Eastern Partnership Countries” organized by the Moldova State University, under the auspices of the SHARE-EU project, where many of the CONNECT partners were featured speakers,
Following the conference, CONNECT partners spent the week in a busy combination of meetings and visits. Since Moldova is the host country for the project, we were able to immerse ourselves in the university and startup ecosystem of this small but growing country.
In addition to Moldova State University (project coordinator), we spent time at each of the partner institutions: Technical University of Moldova; Alecu Russo Balti State University; and the Academy of Music, Theater and Fine Arts.
The Academy of Music, Theater & Fine Arts hosted us on Day 2 at Artcor, with a tour and presentations about the efforts being made to encourage entrepreneurial thinking in students of the arts. We saw several newly-renovated and purpose built spaces that are hosting hackathons, performances, and pitch competitions for local students and startup teams.
At the Technical University of Moldova, we visited the Tekwill Business Incubator and Hub – home to numerous startups and HQ of Startup Moldova. They also have a very successful after-school STEM program for school-age children, incorporating education in robotics and science with business concepts.
A short walk from Tekwill took us to ZipHouse, a fashion incubator for young designers. This is a specially designed facility that offers working and community space as well as equipment for prototyping, a key need for anyone just starting their career in the fashion industry.
The following day was a full out-of-town journey as we headed north to USARB. With a stop first to the Balti Economic Free Zone and then a complete presentation and tour of the Draxelmaier Automotive factory.
Our visit to USARB was an opportunity to cover completed work, plus upcoming deadlines and other aspects of the CONNECT project – we had extensive discussions and the university hosted us in their impressive conference hall.
In addition to the project results and deadlines, we got insights about the students and their startup ideas that have been beneficiaries of the SmartCaffe.
Overall, it was a very successful meeting and all agree the project is progressing well!
ERASMUS+ CONNECT PROJECT: “Connecting universities-industry through smart entrepreneurial cooperation and competitive intelligence of students in Moldova, Georgia and Armenia ”617393-EPP-1-2020-1-MD-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP”
#Network of Smart Caffe #Moldova State University #State Agrarian University of Moldova #Alecu Russo Balti State University #Technical University of Moldova #Academy of Music, Theatre and Fine Arts #Brusov State University #Vanadzor State University after H.Tumanyan #Ilia state university #Shota Rustaveli Theatre and Film Georgia State University
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