Implementation of the "third mission" at the University of Latvia

"Third Mission" is not only about social responsibility and duties, but also about expanding of opportunities and strengthening of the social significance of the university. And the secret of success is the activity of the entire university community.

The next stage of training within the framework of UNICOM project "Universities - communities: strengthening cooperation" took place in Riga on August 22-25, 2023. The representatives of the university: Nataliia Horbenko and Viktoriia Kovalenko had a great opportunity to get acquainted with successful examples of the implementation of the third mission at the University of Latvia.

The representatives of the University of Latvia warmly welcomed the participants from Ukraine, each speaker expressed support for our state and people, and these are not just words. The entire city of Riga flies Ukrainian flags, on the day of the National Flag of Ukraine, the Latvian Freedom Monument was illuminated in yellow and blue. We had the opportunity to see our flag even in the Diet of Latvia, which was installed on the rostrum on the day of Russia's full-scale attack on Ukraine - February 24, 2022. This flag at every meeting reminds parliamentarians of this country about Ukraine. And indeed, the government of Latvia and its people provide enormous political, economic, humanitarian and military assistance to Ukraine in various ways.

The workshop "National regulation and implementation of the third mission of higher educational institutions - experience and cooperation with social partners" was organized by the project coordinator Baiba Shavrinja on the basis of the Faculty of Business, Management and Economics of the University of Latvia. This seminar demonstrated the great activity of the University of Latvia in cooperation with the authorities, public organizations, private enterprises, patrons.

The former rector of the university Indrikis Muijnieks spoke about the experience of the university and the vision of the country's development strategy "Formula "Future of Latvia 2050". By the 100th anniversary of Latvia, the university decided to contribute to the development of the country. For two years, forums were held at which representatives of various spheres, including higher authorities, heads of universities and scientific institutions, entrepreneurs, representatives of non-governmental organizations, university doctors and students, shared their experience and thoughts about the future of the country.

Dean of the Faculty of Business, Management and Economics Prof. G. Berzinsh. Scientists of this faculty conducted a scientific study of the demographic and socio-economic status of the country's regions, which became the foundation for administrative and territorial reform in Latvia.

Specialists of the educational department Quality Manager S. Bondare and Ya. Admine spoke about the peculiarities of education quality management and provision of non-formal education as part of the third mission of the university. The experience of the university's cooperation with employers, their participation in the educational process, mentoring and support programs is useful.

The University of Latvia is the oldest university in the country, which has a high reputation and actively works with philanthropists to attract additional investments and funding. The experience of cooperation of the University of Latvia with graduates, support of youth projects, startups and business incubators is important for implementation. An interesting example of attracting additional funding is conducting laboratory research to order, within the framework of signed contracts with the cosmetic company "Madara Cosmetics".

In general, all social activism is also part of the third mission. The University of Latvia conducts active socio-cultural activities, initiates the holding of various events, thematic events, university representatives participate in festivals. University premises, playgrounds and halls are provided for events organized by other social institutes.

Considering the work of the library of our university, the activity in the field of medical regional studies is part of the third mission of the university. A striking example is the preparation of the edition "Vinnytsia - the city of followers of M.I. Pirogov". This project was implemented as part of the city competition "Budget of Public Initiatives". The coverage of history in numerous publications, local lore explorations, compilation of bio-bibliographic indexes are an example of the social activity of the university community.

Studying at the University of Latvia expanded the boundaries of awareness of the application points of the implementation of the third mission, because it is an incredibly wide range of activities that are already working at our university and the implementation of which is worth working on in the future.

Member of the UNICOM project working group
Victoria Kovalenko