Sustain project partners gathered virtually for a strategic project meeting focused on administrative performance, financial review, and key operational planning. The first half of the meeting was dedicated to operational progress, beginning with procurement status updates. The second half of the meeting was an interactive brainstorming session on the Blueprint.

Overall Procurement Status
The meeting noted that partner institutions were at different procurement stages, ranging from supplier selection to the early stages of the process. It was reiterated that all equipment be installed, operational, and documented by the end of December 2026.

Project Management and Partnership Arrangements
Denisa emphasized that procurement status will continue to be monitored in future project meetings. She reviewed completed management deliverables, including the implementation strategy, implementation plan, and quality assurance plan, and outlined the formative impact assessment report due in June 2027. The partnership agreements and appendix amendment were confirmed as fully signed, while procured equipment must be recorded in university assets by December of the current year.

Blueprint and Operational Tools for Third-Mission Activities
The University of Dubrovnik is leading work package two, which has produced a blueprint for institutional and capacity building. The partners were preparing a collaborative brainstorming session to develop prototype operational tools, with feedback due by the end of October and European Commission submission planned for the end of December.

Deployment and Dissemination Planning
Work package three will deploy the operational tools and training activities from the second half of 2027 into 2028 across students, academic communities, alumni, and other stakeholders. Work package four has established a dissemination strategy, promotion pack, and shared reporting template, and partners were asked to record dissemination activities promptly for inclusion in future reporting.

Maldives’ Meeting Planning and Budget Management
The next in-person project meeting and training will take place in Male' from January 16–20, 2027, with working sessions scheduled for January 17–19. Partners were asked to identify delegates early and manage travel and accommodation within the limited project budget, with additional institutional funds required if project funding is insufficient.

Blueprint Presentation and Interactive Brainstorming
Following the operational progress, the agenda transitioned into technical execution. Anja Grabovac presented the current Sustain project blueprint, detailing structural guidelines and strategic frameworks. The session concluded with an interactive brainstorming workshop where participants evaluated both the operational tools, TOR and CSR Guidelines. The meeting established clear action items for both the management team and technical working groups as the project moves into its next operational phase.