At the current juncture, issues concerning the capacity, quality and accessibility of higher education come under the limelight of public attention more often than ever before. The related discussions are lengthy and loud, full of criticism and concern, focussing on various subjects: from the excellence that we want to find in the leading global ratings to the search for the most adequate financing model, from research and innovations that would be successfully commercialised and would enable international competitiveness to the performance of students and graduates when joining the domestic labour market or integrating into the global one.

One of the facets that have been examined very rarely, however, is related to the so-called third mission of higher educationsupplementing the two primary traditional areas of university operation (education and research). This mission is most often defined as outreach and engagement. To be more precise, we are talking about the impact of higher education institutions on the general public and about cooperation, particularly that which involves business environment, industries and non-governmental sector. How much do we know about this "third" facet of higher education? How effective is it? What is its origin and how should it be developed further on? What challenges is it facing today and what changes can we expect in the next 10 years when we can inter alia anticipate also significant changes in the employer–employee relationship models? What are its current benefits and what could be its future benefits? – these are just a few of the questions requiring answers when thinking about the development of our system of education and its interaction with the general public and businesses based on particular case studies.

In this context, we are happy to note that Latvia is equally able to share several brilliant case studies and stories of success that confirm the existence of meaningful interaction between universities and businesses. Some of the most widely publicly-acknowledged examples relate to the development of various products and solutions based on specifically Latvian scientists' contribution and research capital. Thus, for example, the University of Latvia takes pride in its cooperation with innovative businesses in food industry developing wholemeal rye products, in medical sector researching skin stem cells, in the field of cosmetics and beauty care researching natural origin cosmetic ingredients (e.g. bedstraw, birch sap, various plants, berries, mushrooms and mud) as well as in building energy-efficient houses, in the fields of green energy and solar light and many other areas. Cooperation between higher education and business environment specifically in the field of research and development (R&D) is present also at other Latvian HEIs and scientific institutes.

This, however, is just one of the directions where to look for and build on examples of successful partnerships benefitting both parties. Cooperation between education and businesses is equally important also in the areas like curriculum development and delivery of study programmes (and this concerns much more than delivering visiting lectures and inviting visiting scholars); labour force mobility; life-long learning; governance and commercialisation of new products. Recent experience sharing visits to the University of Stavanger in Norway and the University of Turku in Finland enabled an on-site observation of how the best models of life-long learning which are perfectly tailored to the needs of businesses and later enhance profit are created; how the work on commercialisation of ideas and technology transfer is organised, how applied research adds an unprecedented value to sustainable business development, how virtual thematic interest-based research centres are developed based on long-term partnerships of university researchers, industry experts, municipal resources, public research centres and on the national priorities serving as a bride between fundamental research, applied research and commercialisation. We were also able to observe other case studies, particularly in the field of university–business cooperation. Cooperation with private businesses is equally critically important at those universities with limited public and internal financial resources, in order to be able to take a leading role in education and research in priority areas.

Although the success factors and prerequisites vary, it has to be remembered that, like in any kind of partnership, an important role has to be played and responsibilities and initiative have to be undertaken by both partners – HEIs as well as businesses, leaders of non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders. Namely, productive cooperation requires an effective dialogue and mutual respect and is based on common goals and future values.

I wish our system of education also not to stop at what has been achieved but continue with developing both new forms of cooperation as well as raising awareness about the current cooperation proposal, thereby involving also an increasing number of small and medium-sized enterprises, helping to build a knowledge-based economy, supporting local businesses, creating new jobs, fostering economic growth and minimising obstacles to achieving high quality of life.

Līna Dzene
Dynamic University Ltd.
Board Member and CEO