Abstract:

In recent years, the expectations placed upon universities have undergone a profound transformation, giving rise to the concept of the "entrepreneurial university" as a topic of mounting interest within Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) across Europe. These universities provide students, staff, and faculty with opportunities to establish links with businesses, industries, and communities, and they prioritize both innovation and execution (De Moura Ribeiro et al., 2022). This paradigm shift reflects the imperative for HEIs to adapt to the evolving demands of their local environments, while also actively contributing to regional and national economic development. To meet these challenges, HEIs find themselves compelled to reevaluate their core missions, encompassing both education and research, and to adopt a more entrepreneurial attitude in their operations. At the same time, they must also navigate the complexities of maintaining standards of excellence, competing in international education markets, and bridging the gap between the curriculum and marketplace demand (Jones et al., 2021).

The main objectives of the article are to examine the expectations of Nordic-Baltic HEIs towards university- business collaboration and how HEIs have reassessed their roles and strategies in response to the shifting expectations of stakeholders as well as to highlight the imperative of proactive engagement in university-business collaboration, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Scientific literature analysis and qualitative research methodology were employed to investigate the evolving expectations of HEIs in the context of industry-university partnerships. Qualitative research has been conducted at seven universities and universities of applied sciences in the Nordic-Baltic region: Latvia (RISEBA University of Applied Sciences), Lithuania (Vilniaus kolegija / Higher Education Institution), Estonia (University of Tartu, Tallinn University, Estonian University of Life Sciences, TMK) and Finland (South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences). It focuses on in-depth interviews from HEIs in order to provide a nuanced understanding of how HEIs have reassessed their expectations and roles in university-business collaboration.

Drawing on recent literature and empirical evidence from the interviews, the article synthesizes the role of entrepreneurial universities in regional economic development and evolving perspectives of university-business collaboration in Nordic-Baltic region. It emphasizes the significance of partnerships with industry, fostering an entrepreneurial and lifelong learning mindset. The article provides a comprehensive overview of the training services provided by HEIs in the Nordic-Baltic region as a valuable resource for individuals seeking to further their education or improve their skills, as well as for organizations looking to collaborate with HEIs to meet their training and development needs.

The article highlights the need for HEIs to not only excel in traditional academic pursuits but also engage more proactively in university-business collaboration, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Moreover, it addresses the challenges and opportunities that universities encounter as they embark on this transformative journey, including issues related to organizational culture, resource allocation, and the measurement of entrepreneurial success.

Keywords:

Entrepreneurial university, industry-university collaboration, partnership, knowledge transfer, innovation, higher education, entrepreneurship.