On November 14–15, 2024, Caucasus University hosted the second annual international conference – “Addressing Third Mission in Universities: Local and Global.”

The conference was a continuation of best practices introduced within the framework of the institutional development project "Strengthening the Quality and Relevance of the Third Mission in Georgian Universities" (SQUARE), funded by the European Commission, ensuring the sustainability of the project outcomes.

The annual international conference was attended by representatives from universities in over ten countries, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport of Georgia, the National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement, local and international donor organizations, the EU Delegation to Georgia, businesses, and civil society.

Guranda Chelidze, professor of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Caucasus University, Ph.D. in History, academic head of the European Studies Bachelor program, head of the Jean Monnet chairs EU-PPS, Jean Monnet professor, participated in the conference. On November 14, she presented a report at the conference on the topic: “Europeanisation of educational programs as a mechanism for implementing the third mission of the university in the formation of a democratic society - the example of projects implemented at Caucasus University”. She spoke about the implemented or ongoing Jean Monnet projects since 2019, emphasized the importance of the mentioned projects for the formation of a democratic society, analyzed the achieved results, existing challenges and ways to solve existing problems.

On November 15, Prof. Guranda Chelidze participated in the panel discussion "Democratization of Knowledge - Social Impact". She shared her experience, best practices and future initiatives for the further support of the democratization of knowledge in Georgia, presented the role of universities in this very important process.