Connecting universities and enterprises toward innovation and entrepreneurship (UET case)

Abstract

Nowadays societal and economic needs requires that universities are active members in supporting the enterprices and offering real-life experience to the graduate by preparing them for the labour market. The purpose of the paper is to introduce and assess the status quo of higher educational institutions in their devotion to become innovative, foster entrepreneurship and generate value for the society and economy. The methodological approach is a qualitative research method, addressing not only the European University of Tirana - UET (case study), but also the national ecosystems in Albania. Following the methodological approach of the Erasmus + CBHE KnowHub Project (Reconnecting universities and enterprises to unleash regional innovation and entrepreneurial activity), data collection for this paper is done using the Online Servey (HEInnovate selfassessment survey, OECD) conducted in 2020 and 2022 at UET as well as 2 Focus Group (HEInnovate Assessment (Re) Introductory and Verification Workshop). The paper concludes that in a two-year period, UET has used tools and mechanisms which contribute to enhancing the entrepreneurship culture within university.