DISCO project partners held a meeting in a hybrid format with the project manager of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). Representatives of Krakow University of Economics and Lviv Polytechnic National University jointly presented the project in Krakow (Poland).
DISCO (Developing Innovative Sustainable Cooperation Opportunities) is an EIT-funded project aimed at strengthening the innovative potential of higher education institutions through joint learning and cooperation. It will promote the development of innovative and entrepreneurial skills through student training, consulting and mentoring support for start-ups and fast-growing companies, as well as structured development of innovative potential among employees of participating countries organizations. DISCO will achieve its goals by designing and creating new forms of cooperation and innovation hubs and laboratories, as well as developing a general open online course to support the development of its own initiatives and entrepreneurial thinking, training and mentoring about 1,200 beneficiaries.
The project, coordinated by the Krakow University of Economics (Poland), unites Lviv Polytechnic National University (Ukraine), the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (Switzerland), the non-governmental organization European Center for Women and Technology (Norway) and SME SHINE 2Europe (Portugal).
After the meeting, a two-day training LIMITLESS® Innovation BootCamp was held for DISCO project partners with the aim of:
- increasing the innovative and entrepreneurial potential of project partners;
- exchange of best practices for supporting innovation and entrepreneurship among partners;
- exchange of the first ideas for further cooperation of project partners.
On the first day of informal training, inspired by examples from Luxembourg and other countries, the training participants learned about joint initiatives as a basis for innovation with the public and for the public and society. In particular, they worked out the work methodologies of innovation laboratories, as well as their social impact, evaluation of results, discussed the issue of effective approaches to encouraging state administrations, citizens and other stakeholders to joint innovation processes.
On the second day, participants discussed the goals of the DISCO project. The partners learned about how HEIs of the participating countries implement innovations on their own, as well as how they act as stimulators of innovation and entrepreneurship for other participants – from students, through the public, private and public sectors, to the community and society in general.
