The overarching aim of SECRA is to contribute to more resilient communities in Asia through institutionalized, systematic, monitored, innovative, and inclusive university–enterprise collaboration (UEC) in climate change action and disaster resilience (DR). The main problem targeted by SECRA is the ad hoc, episodic quality of UEC in the field of DR in many Asian countries, which are disproportionately affected by consequences of climate change. We are aware that there is no simple answer to the wickedness of climate change consequences or resilience; we are claiming, however, that facilitating systematic, institutionalized, inclusive (in terms of gender parity) and monitored UEC is part of a solution. High quality, entrepreneurial collaborative activities between universities and industry facilitate the exchange of scientific knowledge, practical skills and good practices, which otherwise remain siloed. SECRA deals with the problem at hand in a sequential fashion. The project’s contribution to more resilient communities is through increasing the capacity of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to initiate, manage, maintain, and benefit from UEC. The institutionalization and systematization of UEC are addressed in WPs 1, 2, and 3, innovation in WP4, and monitoring in WP5. SECRA will produce, inter alia, material towards eventual change of policies governing collaborative activities in partner countries; a relation framework to understand UEC; an online platform for a Community of Practice (CoP) consisting of HEIs, public sector and enterprise actors; a corporate start-up lab and networking activities in partner HEIs, and a monitoring tool to assess the quality of UEC that can be broadly contextualized for use in HEIs worldwide.
Based on the needs analyses conducted early one, SECRA aimed at producing a relational framework guiding collaborative governance in the program countries. SECRA. This fed into an online and local communities of practice, in an effort to boost entrepreneurial activities. SECRA aimed at producing a monitoring tool for these collaborations and degree programs at the university level and finally, one of SECRA’s goals was to increase equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI).
SECRA was a result of longstanding erstwhile work in the South Asian region which comprised concerted efforts to develop and support the institutionalization of collaborative governance arrangements in general and in disaster risk reduction in particular. The literature is clear on the issue that the public sector, in developed and developing countries alike, has admitted that it cannot keep people safe from crises. SECRA aimed at increasing societal resilience through collaboration.
<< Background >> SECRA was a result of longstanding erstwhile work in the South Asian region which comprised concerted efforts to develop and support the institutionalization of collaborative governance arrangements in general and in disaster risk reduction in particular. The literature is clear on the issue that the public sector, in developed and developing countries alike, has admitted that it cannot keep people safe from crises. SECRA aimed at increasing societal resilience through collaboration. << Objectives >> Based on the needs analyses conducted early one, SECRA aimed at producing a relational framework guiding collaborative governance in the program countries. SECRA. This fed into an online and local communities of practice, in an effort to boost entrepreneurial activities. SECRA aimed at producing a monitoring tool for these collaborations and degree programs at the university level and finally, one of SECRA’s goals was to increase equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). << Implementation >> The implementation of the SECRA project was characterized by two concepts: flexibility and participatory governance. The consequences of the pandemic as well as sociopolitical shocks at the national level in one of the partner countries (Sri Lanka) resulted in innovation. Additionally, SECRA leaned substantially on the capacity of the country leads for project implementation, with win-win results: better project implementation and leadership capacity building. << Results >> We have a developed a relational framework as a publication in an academic journal that elaborates on original research egarding the barriers and enablers of collaborative arrangements. We have developed and maintained an online CoP; SECRA has developed and tested a monitoring tool; it has fostered entrepreneurial thinking in the program country institutions through corporate start-up labs, and finally, it has contributed to EDI. All of these contribute to increased societal resilience.