Strategic Partnership GRADual

Strategic Partnership “GRADual: Increasing Students/Graduates Employment Readiness”, No. 2014-1-LT01-KA203-000645 (1 September, 2014 – 31 August, 2016)

The objective of the Project is to maximaze organisations’ impact in terms of speed, quality and innovative services provided to universities and business for improving employment readiness (students and graduates internships schemes and other measures). The Strategic Partnership that brings together partners from EU-15 having solid experience in promoting university and business cooperation/entrepreneurial education and EU-25 that were “breaking ice” in the same areas only for a couple of years and ensures well calibrated geographic balance (Spain, UK (Scotland) and Lithuania) will employ in-house knowledge and skills to achieve the articulated objective.

The partners engaged were previously cooperating in bilateral formats. The Strategic Partnership will be established between:

1) 3 intermediary organisations (Fundación Universidad-Empresa-FUE (Madrid), Saltire Foundation (Glsgow) and LPK/Partners 4 Value (Vilnius) being prominent actors in promoting business and universities cooperation, early investment in human capital for business leadership in their respective countries,

2) Universities (the Spanish university that has a solid experience in developing academic modules for graduate internship programme jointly delivered with FUE and 5 lead Lithuanian universities willing to learn from good practices on how to prepare Curriculum for graduate programmes to be delivered jointly with Partners 4 Value under the financing instruments programmed at national level);

3) Global Lithuanian Leaders – the NGO willing to learn and share on how to best engage professionals from diaspora to investing in young talents (placements/mentoring services).

Main planned activities entails:

1) Preparation of peer learning methods;

2) Delivery of 1 Joint Staff Training Event and the Intensive training Programme for participating Lithuanian universities’ teaching staff;

3) Development of Guidelines on Establishing and Effectively Running Students/Graduates Internship Programmes;

4) Identification of Lithuanian Business needs for graduates skills;

5) Preparation of Curriculum as an integral part of graduate internship programme to be commenced in Lithuania.

These projects were supported by the  Erasmus+ programme that is executed in Lithuania by the Education Exchanges Support Foundation.