The Thematic University Business Forum took place on 22 and 23 February 2022 in Italy on the topic of cooperation between academic and business sectors in a "time of recovery and resilience". The two-day event was hosted by the Italian Ministry of University and Research and by the Agenzia Italiana per la Coesione Territoriale (Italian National Governmental Agency for Territorial Cohesion), with the support of the European Commission (DG EAC and DG REGIO). The first day of the event covered the National Recovery and Resilience Plans (NRRP), with initiatives dedicated to University-Business Cooperation (UBC), presented by four Member States (Italy, Slovenia, Portugal, and Spain). Participants had the opportunity to discuss UBC themes (innovation, research, green and digital transitions, regional development, and agribusiness) in depth during parallel workshops. The key take-aways of the workshops were presented by a panel of PhD student rapporteurs during the start of the second day of the event. Finally, two panel sessions took place, one exploring UBC in the Mediterranean, and a second one that looked at sustainability issues through a range of UBC project examples. A key focus of the event was the UBC in the Mediterranean area linking Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. The area is characterised by high levels of youth unemployment. UBC in the region can have an important effect, not only on the individuals and economies in this region, but also on issues like climate change. The Mediterranean faces high levels of water scarcity due to the effects of global warming and UBC can also positively boost innovation in the region. The event was also an occasion to showcase best practices of various institutions, organisations, and projects. This exchange of knowledge and experience showed how higher education and business can effectively cooperate across different countries, through shared goals, namely increasing the employability of young people. BUSINESSMED and EIT Food gave practical examples of this.
