ENLIGHT Staff Week for more impactful collaboration

Staff weeks provide an opportunity for staff from different universities to meet and share best practices, experiences and methodologies on a specific topic or for a specific target group. This Staff Week was specifically designed for staff working on collaboration and external partnership within ENLIGHT. During the week, participants had the opportunity to discuss innovative methods of collaboration between universities and external actors and strategies for creating impactful innovation.

Spirit of cooperation a key takeaway

For Arno Ratzinger, a participant from the University of Bern, the meeting was an important step in positioning the university’s innovation centre within European cooperation.

“As a young organisation, we want to learn from more experienced partners and share best practices for cooperation. To make the ENLIGHT vision a reality, we need to strengthen personal relationships and institutional knowledge. This is my first contact with ENLIGHT partners, and I hope to take this spirit of cooperation with me from Uppsala to Bern,” Ratzinger says.

Common understanding

Over three days, participants attended workshops and presentations highlighting the different methods and tools used by universities within the ENLIGHT network to promote collaboration. The programme also included visits to UU Innovation Partnership Office, Gustavianum and Biotopia, to give participants a deeper insight into Uppsala University’s work on collaboration and external partnership.

“To create the desired impact within ENLIGHT, we need to have a common understanding of which tools are appropriate and how to use them,” says Sepideh Razavi, Collaboration Manager at the University Administration, one of the organisers of the Staff Week.

According to Amrie Landwehr, a participant from the University of Göttingen, the Staff Week has served as a creative opportunity to understand more clearly the role of each university within the network.

“It’s about understanding more clearly what I can contribute, who I am in the ENLIGHT context. This is a creative moment in the project. Decisions need to be taken on the way forward and I have a better idea of what we can contribute. It’s important to find a common language and what the words mean in this context,” says Landwehr.

Planning ahead together

Participants were also expected to actively contribute during the week by sharing their own university’s best practices and methodologies, as well as helping to develop a common database, aimed at promoting future collaborations between the institutions. Staff weeks are intended not just to serve as a platform for exchanging ideas, but also to play a role in building long-term partnerships that drive innovation and address societal challenges across Europe.

“We have been working together for a few years now and will continue to cooperate in the future, so at this meeting in Uppsala we reflected on the years that have passed, but also planned together for the years to come,” says Sepideh Razavi.

Sandra Johansson

Anders Berndt