Spanning Boundaries Training Programme: Second Cohort Launched Last Week

The Spanning Boundaries Training Programme has recently celebrated the successful closing of its first cohort and welcomed the new, second cohort to the programme. Spanning Boundaries is Europe’s first dedicated training programme for individuals working to break down the barriers between academia and industry. It is a 5-month online training programme with a mix of academics, businesspeople and intermediaries participating.  

The first cohort took place from March until June 2021. The program was built around the Personal Application Projects (PAPs) that each of the participants had to complete. The PAPs are a keystone element that runs through the Spanning Boundaries Educational Framework, operating as the primary learning vehicle. PAPs allow participants to apply their learning to a real-life problem or opportunity by creating specific objectives to address the situation; participants are asked to reflect on the current situation and their motivation for the project as well as expected challenges and desired outcomes. During the programme, participants could choose between two different pathways, the Participation Certificate pathway or the Accreditation/Certification pathway. There were a team of 15 mentors supervising each cohort. During the programme’s mentoring sessions, all the participants had the opportunity to learn from experienced Spanning Boundary agents from all around the globe.

The first Spanning Boundaries cohort hosted a very diverse group of participants, coming from 10 different countries. On September 10, the cohort’s 29 participants got together one last time for the final pitching event. The event lasted 5 hours and clearly showcased that all the participants had embraced the mentoring provided within the program and had been able to successfully develop their PAPs. Their commitment to and positive feedback on the programme makes us all the more excited to start our second edition!  

The second cohort kicked-off on September 16 and will be participating in the programme from September 2021 – January 2022. We have started the programme with 100 excited and engaged participants from 10 different countries who, over the next 5 months, will be participating in seminars, master classes, and workshops. We are also excited to introduce a new pathway that has been added to the programme; the Basic Pathway offers the participants the opportunity to join spanning boundaries just by attending the sessions. We hope in this way that busy professionals with little time, but a big interest in spanning boundaries between academia and business, can also join the programme.