Guidelines on Peer-Learning

Abstract

Take‐aways from peer‐learning experiences Peer‐learning is a way for partners to learn from each other effectively. At a time when the university resources are limited and demands upon the staff are increasing, it can be beneficial internal as well as external stakeholders of an HEI to learn from each other. For peer‐learning to take place it is important to know who the “peers or buddies” are. For peer‐learning to be achieved within the BeyondScale project a buddy system was created. The buddy system included internal HEI partners for the inbound projects, external for the outbound projects, and a system that involved project partners, associate partners as well as mentors. The internal partners were university management, heads of departments, heads of degree programs, experts in service units, and selected lecturers. On the other side external partners were public sector/policy‐oriented organisations along with enterprise support organizations/incubators/start‐ups, micro firms and relevant actors in the industry, The internal HEI partners in the activities – the project team, administrative, academic, and other staff as well as students ‐ benefited from the documentation of the activities of BeyondScale, the capacity building seminars and webinars organized at the higher education institutions. External stakeholders also benefited from the augmented capacity at the higher education institutions they collaborate with. While COVID‐19 made things more complicated, the design of the system allowed all partners to interact on multiple levels and with a variety of partners from the inside and the outside of their network. The result was the co‐design and the implementation of inbound and outbound activities.