Magazines September 17, 2018 | 2 minute read

Creating Strategic Partnerships | Sept. 2018 Issue

UIIN

Uiim 18 09 creating strategic partnerships

Looking to gain insight into the fundamental question of how to create strategic partnerships, in this issue we host a range of institutions with collaborations exemplary of the concept, from different industrial sectors, higher education institutions, and those with collaborations forged through initiatives by the national governments and European funding programs. Moreover, we have given the floor to experts who share their opinions based on years of experience and knowledge on the topic.

What these stories tell us is that it is almost always people and personal relationships that form the basis of interactions. It was “getting out of the lab”, “starting talking to each other”, “honest communication” and “developing a joint collaboration culture” what kept the wheels turning, as many of our authors have mentioned. While not being the only criteria that strategic partnerships are built on, we can conclude that relationships were the antidote of potential challenges to be tackled on the way. Then comes the right physical and framework structures, national and supranational funding programs, and systematised approaches that consolidated the partnerships, helping them grow to be stronger in their reach and impact. Sometimes it is an entrepreneurship competition event, a PhD research track, a joint curriculum, or a space like a science park that bring stakeholders together with the same vision to develop sustainable partnerships. Which means, there is no single way, constellation or formula that leads strategic collaborations to occur.

We hope you find our collection of articles inspirational as much as informative in their unique ways of establishing and developing partnerships.

UIIN would like to thank the authors: Anette Birck, Roxane Bovet, Dorn Carranza, Leon Cremonini, Elliot Gilliam, Jean-Pierre Greff, Rebecca Hinton, Ulla Keino, Fabio López-Pires, Sofya Kopelyan, Saeed Moghadam, Saman Inge Peeters, Markus Perkmann, Nelson Phillips, Zoe Piper, Caitlin Ruddock, Malcolm Skingle, John Szabo, Annemarie Wöhri, Abebaw Yirga Adamu.