On the 8th of February, the Mayor of Vilnius District Municipality, Robert Duchnevič, and the Rector of Vilnius University, Prof Rimvydas Petrauskas, signed a cooperation agreement, which confirms the mutually beneficial and closer partnership between the two institutions in the pursuit of common educational and municipal goals.
Mayor R. Duchnevič welcomed yet another partnership between higher education and local government, which will help to address important education issues in Vilnius District and create new opportunities and experiences. According to him, the cooperation will pave the road for joint projects, knowledge exchange, competence and qualification development, involving a large number of stakeholders, and will allow to broaden the potential of Vilnius District.
During the meeting, the establishment of an education academy was discussed as one of the main joint ideas, which Vilnius District Municipality would implement together with the higher education institution. The academy would operate on a functional basis and include activities through various projects. Pupils would be transferred to the university while being in school, where they would "try on" a specialty, test and evaluate the subject through various tasks, which would also help them to decide on their future careers. The academy would also encourage greater cooperation between educational institutions in the Vilnius District.
"Now we need to find the strong parties that will attract young people and allow them to do some specific tasks, with a particular emphasis on science. We will test this new practice, which could then be applied nationally," said Mayor Duchnevič, underlining that the municipality is open to cooperation and new ideas.
The university representatives mentioned that the idea of an education academy is a rather innovative one, and therefore it is being approached very responsibly. A draft concept has now been prepared. It is foreseen that training will be a continuous, full-time process. It is also planned to include other topics that are important today, such as teamwork, creativity and creative thinking in problem solving.
They also discussed the idea of a "partnership triangle": business, university and municipality working together to attract both local and foreign talents and develop technology businesses. The possibilities of reviving cultural heritage sites, development of the competences of culture and tourism professionals were discussed.
The official signing of the agreement was also attended by Dr Artūras Vasiliauskas, Head of Partnerships Development Department of Vilnius University, Jevgenija Avedenij, Vice-Rector for Partnerships of Vilnius University, and Jolanta Gulbinovič, Head of the Public and International Relations Department of Vilnius District Municipality Administration.
The objectives of the agreement are to strengthen mutual partnership, to participate in various academic and local government initiatives and to jointly develop new initiatives to promote the best possible relevance of studies to the needs of the labour market, to strengthen the training of highly qualified specialists, to increase the accessibility of university studies, to organise student internships in the Municipal Administration or subordinate institutions, to organise staff internships, to solve current problems, and to develop and implement various projects and other joint activities. There will also be opportunities for students to propose relevant topics for projects or theses, to collaborate in the search for young professionals, and to organise refresher courses or continuing education programmes for employees of the Municipality and its subordinate institutions.
The agreement is signed for 5 years and will be automatically renewed for the same period of time if there is no desire to terminate it.
Lietuviškai
Polski
Русский
