ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a case study of the innovations developed in the academic CEEPUS network BG-1103-07-2223 which was created in 2016, started with 16 partners’ academic institutions from eight countries and has grown to 34 academic and six business partners from all 16 countries in Central European CEEPUS area, and is ranked in the first 20 CEEPUS networks during the last four years. The task in the network coordination and management is how to invest and realize several mobilities awarded from National CEEPUS offices in the 16 partner countries which have values with different attraction effects up to 11 times per teaching week or study month, and to achieve tangible results. The task is complex and networks that cannot solve it lose support in the next application round. The complexity comes from the CEEPUS region itself, which includes all seven ex-Yugoslavia countries with contradictions and traumatism inherited from the recent conflicts. The COVID-19 pandemic period hit strongly all mobility programs and was an additional challenge for the CEEPUS network.
A creative and innovative approach was implemented in order to make the network viable and successful.
The main innovations implemented in the network are:
Event-based approach and implementation of the innovative Flexible course;
Coordinator's tour in the partner countries and institutions;
Joint doctoral program with an innovative network-wide joint co-tutorship and co-supervision;
Innovative platform for e-management of the academic network IMA-NET;
Innovative ways of cooperation with business partners of the network.
The chapter describes these innovations, providing quantitative and qualitative measures and illustrating the implementation, probation, feedback, and survey results from the IMA-NET platform and effectiveness estimation. The interdisciplinary research realized in the network and the impacts of these innovations on its development are in the focus. The results obtained in the network are discussed. This case study can be helpful for improving the effectiveness of other academic, business, and research networks. It can serve as a good basis for the development of the CEEPUS program in the next decades.
