New cooperation project with Latin America on innovation and entrepreneurship

Uppsala University is the coordinator for the Erasmus+ capacity building project LISTO – Latin American and European Cooperation on Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Over the course of 3 years (2017-2020) and with a budget of 983.000 EUR, the project will bring together three universities from Europe and seven from Latin America (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay) to facilitate an exchange of knowledge and good practice for teachers, innovation office staff and university management. The project focuses on three work packages: University-industry relations (AIMday), entrepreneurial skills in education and university strategies for innovation.

LISTO is coordinated by the International Office of Uppsala University in cooperation with Uppsala University Innovation as well as teachers from the School of Entrepreneurship, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management and the Game Design program on Campus Gotland.

The project started in December 2017 with a kick-off meeting in Porto Alegre, Brazil. During the next workshop (Montevideo, Uruguay, 16-20 April 2018), Uppsala University Innovation will introduce the AIMday method as a way of connecting researchers with industries. The AIMday (www.aimday.se) is a match-making event in which researchers and industry R&D staff are put together based on a shared interest or question. It allows universities to work strategically on bridging the gap with the wider economic and social environment. Within the LISTO project, the Latin American partners will participate in an AIMday organizer training and will then plan and host their own pilot AIMdays, focusing e.g. on material science, bioenergy, agriculture, or water. In spring 2019, the LISTO project will come to Uppsala for a conference to discuss the results of the pilot AIMdays and how they can be used to increase the collaboration between Sweden and Latin America.

Apart from the AIMdays, LISTO there are two additional work packages. Teachers from all 10 LISTO partners will develop an international classroom for entrepreneurship in which students from Europe will work together with students in Latin America on a number of selected case studies and projects. After the test phase, the goal is to inject the international modules into existing entrepreneurship programs.

In addition, LISTO will also facilitate a forum for discussing strategies for entrepreneurial universities. The project consortium will address the topic from two angles: first, a workshop for innovation officers to share good-practice examples of promoting innovation and methods in engaging researchers; second, a conference with senior university management from all 10 LISTO partners to discuss the connection between university governance and innovation.

Further information and updates can be found on the project website (www.listoproject.eu) or on twitter: #listoproject