Abstract:

International partnerships are not just the present but also the support for a future breakthrough. In this path, alliances between different educational institutions are becoming increasingly common to develop European accomplishments. Regardless of their main objective and area of work, the different European projects have a common basis to promote European citizenship and strengthen the development of networks. In these projects, partners with assorted backgrounds, perspectives and experiences, different multidisciplinary and multicultural competencies, and dissimilar resources, promote knowledge flows and contribute to European Union (EU) mission.
This diversity is always enriching, but it can also be a constraining factor. As researchers, we are aware that the first working project meeting, can be a limiting factor to project resourcefulness. To rise this constraint, partners must be very attentive to the design and planning of this stage.
The power of collaborative work to strengthen partnerships is recognised worldwide, and it is vital to achieving significant boundary-spanning knowledge. However, designing and planning collaborative activities can be challenging, especially when starting work between team members who do not know each other.
To overcome this challenge a contribution from an Erasmus+ project is presented. Using the project acronym CEM (Creative European Methodology), a set of activities were systematised and grouped into three categories: Close to each other, Engage &work and Mindful feedback as standardised procedures. The close to each other activities were designed to start and unite the group in a common goal providing joy and well-being and making partners motivated for what's next. The engage & work activities were used to boost the energy and motivation of the team, providing the skills, training and resources that people need, so that they can cocreate proactively, making things happen. Ending with the mindful feedback, normally called evaluation activities, designed to evaluate/reflect/give feedback about an event or meeting. Those strategies are often used to validate or not, the activity done, adding value to the path to strengthen a continuous improvement process.
This systematisation has already been experienced in the development of collaborative work in the International Partnership Ecosystem. The standardised procedures were assessed as an essential tool to facilitate good teamwork practices.

Keywords:

Collaborative work, International Partnership, standardized procedures.