1. Partnership and Regionality
Group: STEM I

2. What constitutes a well functioning partnership?
Relationship in which all parties have mutual benefits (win – win)
Active engagement and commitment of partners
Timely responsiveness of partners
There must be some clear objectives, ongoing activities
Resource sharing
Respect of all partners
Mechanism for resolution of differences
Regular communication and meetings

3. Are academic and none academic partnerships different, if so how?
Yes, they are different?
Academic partnership revolves around core mission: training, research, outreach et.
None academic partnership are complementary and supportive
can receive students for internship,
can help with commercialization of outputs
Contribute to curricular development
Source of research problems
Potential employers

4. Are national and regional partnership different, if so how?
Yes, they are, but there are similarities.
Different in that
National partners come from the same contexts: rules, regulations, similar challenges and national priorities etc.
Similar in that they may
Share similar development challenges e.g. gender, water, railways etc
Common interests
Different strengths, experiences, and weaknesses that can complement each other

5. How do you establish new partnership, with partners who have no or little experience e.g. University – industry?
Cultivate ground for partnership
Show to partners what you can offer, what you expect from them, and clearly indicate their benefits
Create a forum for nurturing the partnership
Appears as problem solvers
Action oriented approach i.e. indicating that we can add value through training, product development
Show how jointly we can provide solutions to the society needs
Open the doors of university for bringing the industries experiences to the university

6. Important Dos and Don’t of partnerships
Identify common areas of interest
Mutual respects
Transparency
Accountability
Regular communication and meetings
Hurt feelings of your partners
Misuse of the partnership out of the agreed objectives e.g. for one party gains
Disclosure of confidentially agreed outcomes or products

7. Advantages and disadvantages
Well functioning partnership has no disadvantages but there are risk associated with management of partnership
Missing of common interest
Imbalance benefits to partners
Risk of disclosure of confidential information
Initial time investment is long
Initial steps can be costly
Maintaining commitment can be difficult
Misplacement of resources
Delays in implementation
Sharing knowledge, experiences, and skills
Sharing resources (financial, human, equipment etc)
Capacity building
Attract resources as group

8. How can we maximize advantages
How to maximize
Sharing knowledge, experiences, and skills
Sharing resources (financial, human, equipment etc)
Capacity building
Attract resources as group
Continuous engagement and collaboration
Agreeing on how to share the resources
Staff exchange, training, seminars, etc
Joint proposal, consortiums, consultancies, conferences,
get together to celebrate achievements

9. How can we maximize advantages
Disadvantage
How to minimize
Missing of common interest
Imbalance benefits to partners
Risk of disclosure of confidential information
Initial time investment is long
Initial steps can be costly
Maintaining commitment can be difficult
Misplacement of resources
Delays in implementation
Partnership agreements with well detailed activities, amount timeline, who is responsible, and reporting.
Good planning