The Swedish Institute (SI) has funded (2020-2021) our pilot project to develop tools and networking infrastructure for international cooperation. The underlying concept is to use case-study methods for problem analysis, integrating the perspectives and experience of diverse partners and stakeholders. The system perspective of this conceptual modeling is important for understanding the complexity and for identifying the feasible steps to improve scenario predictions and decision support.

In addition to Univ. Gothenburg (Sweden; coordinating) the initial PLATFORM consortium included Khazar University (Azerbaijan), Nizhny Novgorod State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering (Russia), and SWS Scholarly Society (Austria). Although the focus of the SI program is on countries in the “European Eastern Partnership”, we expect to include other partners with interest for developing cooperation.

The main activities are:

1. a web-based training course in case-study methods
2. a hybrid workshop focused on methodology
3. a hybrid workshop with examples of the case-studies from PLATFORM cooperation
4. project initiatives for continued international cooperation, both in educational and research contexts.

Project homepage: https://kermitcooperation.wixsite.com/platform

Contact: Prof. Rodney Stevens, Univ. Gothenburg, stevens@gvc.gu.se