On 14–17 September 2026, Sakarya University (Republic of Türkiye) hosted the Kick-off Meeting of the international project GreenSTEM – “STEM Entrepreneurship for Green Circular Economy”, implemented within the EIT Higher Education Initiative, supported by EIT Food and co-funded by the European Union.

Vasyl Stefanyk Carpathian National University is represented in the project by the Scientific Park “Carpathian University”. The Kick-off Meeting in Sakarya was attended by Mykola Stovban, General Director of the Scientific Park “Carpathian University” and Professor at Vasyl Stefanyk Carpathian National University, and Svitlana Kropelnytska, Director of the Project and Educational Centre “Agents of Changes” at CNU, Associate Professor of the Department of Finance, Faculty of Economics.

Svitlana Kropelnytska participated in the meeting as the Master Contact of the Ukrainian partner, responsible for coordinating the work packages and tasks assigned to the team, joint planning, and the operational implementation of project deliverables. Mykola Stovban represented the Scientific Park at the level of institutional governance and consortium decision-making (Legal Officer); his participation in the final decisions of the Kick-off Meeting was recorded in the GreenSTEM partners’ meeting minutes.

GreenSTEM aims to strengthen the innovation and entrepreneurial capacity of higher education institutions, particularly in STEM, the green and circular economy, and to deepen cooperation among education, research, business, and broader innovation ecosystems. Summarising the meeting, project partner Campus de Excelencia Internacional Agroalimentario ceiA3 highlighted such GreenSTEM areas as circular bioeconomy, agri-food waste valorisation, biorefining, sustainable food systems, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

The two-day working programme of the Kick-off Meeting covered the key areas of future project implementation: project governance and partner responsibilities; institutional transformation and the development of innovation structures; curriculum module development; the Knowledge Triangle and Challenge-Based Learning; training delivery, mentoring and certification; external partnerships and ecosystem development; financial management and quality assurance; communication; and planning for the first months of GreenSTEM implementation.

A separate component of the third day, on 16 September, was the GreenSTEM PreCOP31 Needs Assessment Workshop, held at MUSIAD Sakarya. The needs assessment involved 44 representatives of different stakeholder groups, including universities, industry and the private sector, STEM teachers, civil society and cooperatives, local governments, development agencies, and public authorities.

The findings of this assessment will provide a basis for identifying real industry challenges that will subsequently be integrated into the learning process through the Challenge-Based Learning approach. The Kick-off Meeting formally incorporated this mechanism for using the needs assessment results into its decisions.

An important outcome of the meeting was the definition of the Ukrainian partner’s specific responsibilities during the next stages of GreenSTEM. The Scientific Park “Carpathian University”, together with partners from Spain and Türkiye, will coordinate thematic workshops with relevant stakeholders. A total of ten workshops are planned within the five educational modules.

Another strategic area will be the establishment of the Industrial Advisory Board. Its organisation will be coordinated by Campus de Excelencia Internacional en Agroalimentación in Spain, the Scientific Park “Carpathian University” in Ukraine, and Habitat Derneği in Türkiye. The Ukrainian team will therefore be directly involved in developing systematic cooperation between universities, businesses, and other actors within the innovation ecosystem.

In Sakarya, the partners also agreed on the further organisation of consortium activities, including monthly coordination meetings, preparation of educational materials, work on microcredentials and digital badges, communication activities, needs assessments in the partner countries, and the further development of educational modules.

Following the Kick-off Meeting, a programme of subsequent joint decisions was established. The first online meeting of the Steering Committee is scheduled for the end of September. During this meeting, the partners plan to confirm representation in the project’s governance structures, nominate Knowledge Triangle Integration Officers, determine the composition of the Industrial Advisory Board, allocate the ten workshops, agree on common approaches to the needs assessment, and address other operational matters.

The next stage will focus directly on the academic content of GreenSTEM. The partners will present the results of needs assessments conducted in the three countries, the identified industry challenges and draft educational modules, as well as agree on approaches to microcredentials, digital badges, translation, and quality assurance in education.

“The GreenSTEM Kick-off Meeting has come to an end, but our joint work is only beginning. Ahead of us are new ideas, partnerships, and practical solutions that should strengthen cooperation between universities, research and business and contribute to the development of green, innovative and entrepreneurial education,” noted Svitlana Kropelnytska.

The Kick-off Meeting in Sakarya marked the transition from the formation of the international consortium to the practical implementation of GreenSTEM. Within the project, the Scientific Park “Carpathian University” will represent the Ukrainian innovation ecosystem and will be directly involved in developing the project’s educational, entrepreneurial, and Knowledge Triangle instruments.

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