The activities, achievements and current progress of the third mission implemented by Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (TSU) were discussed by Rector of TSU, George Sharvashidze at a meeting held within the framework of the project “Strengthening the Quality and Relevance of the Third Mission in Georgian Universities” (SQUARE). Heads of Tbilisi City Hall services and City Council commissions, National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts Paris and Nova University of Lisbon, who simultaneously are members of the Third Mission Project Consortium, were present at the meeting.  
 

“During the meeting, we talked about the main goals of the project, the ways of its implementation. Our European colleagues provided good examples. The today’s meeting will give an impetus to the development of this cooperation; we have planned regular meetings and identification of those projects that will promote public development,” Rector Sharvashidze noted.
 

The European partners shared with the representatives of the Tbilisi Municipality their experience of cooperation with local governments in French and Portuguese universities, how they are involved in university activities for the purpose of public development.
 

Irma Grdzelidze, coordinator of the Third Mission project and head of the TSU Quality Assurance Service, provided the examples of cooperation between the university and the city and expressed readiness to actively participate in the development of the corresponding strategy. She also noted that Tbilisi State University is the coordinator of the institutional development project financed by Erasmus+, which covers the third mission of the university, quality enhancement and institutional development of universities in this direction.  
 

“The today’s meeting aimed at European partners sharing their experience of how European universities operate, in particular, Portuguese, French, Finnish universities in relation to municipalities, mayor’s office, what projects are implemented, how successful these projects are, how the implementation of these projects affects public development, in general, formation of values, improvement of the economic situation, as well as the promotion of sustainable development goals,” Irma Grdzelidze noted.
 

The project “Strengthening the Quality and Relevance of the Third Mission in Georgian Universities” prepared through the coordination of the Quality Assurance Service at TSU is the winner of Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education (CBHE) 2020. The purpose of this project is to improve the quality and relevance of the third mission in universities. Within the framework of the project, Georgian universities will cooperate with international partners to create methodologies and guidelines for the third mission planning, introduction, implementation and evaluation, and will develop the third mission strategy. The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports and the National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement will upgrade the quality assurance system and further integrate the evaluation of the third mission activities into quality assurance standards.
 

The project on strengthening the third mission in Georgian universities will help raise awareness about the third mission of universities, increase the capacity of the university community to properly plan the third mission activities and evaluate their results. It is also important that each member university of the project consortium develops a strategic plan for the third mission and pilot each project for the third mission. This ensures the introduction and development of the third mission at an institutional level.