Guinea: Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne hosts GRAINES project kickoff
From 9th to 11th April, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University hosted the kick-off seminar for the Erasmus+ GRAINES project (Guinea: Building capacity to accelerate innovation and employability in higher education). This event marks the official start of the project’s activities, which will run until January 2028 with the goal of improving the employability of young graduates in Guinea.
Fostering innovation and employability in Guinea
Selected under the latest Erasmus+ call for capacity building in higher education, the GRAINES project will be coordinated by Université de Labé (Guinea) for a period of three years. It brings together three full partner institutions – Institut Supérieur de Technologie de Mamou (Guinea), Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University (France), and the University of Liège (Belgium) – along with two associated institutions: Université Kofi Annan de Guinée and the African Network for Internationalisation of Education (ANIE). Several of these partners had previously collaborated under the Erasmus+ INDIGO project, led by Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne from 2019 to 2023.
The GRAINES project aims to develop skilled employment opportunities along the Labé–Mamou–Conakry axis by strengthening the capacities of innovation and employability centres within higher education institutions. The ultimate goal is to disseminate the best practices of this initiative, in order to benefit as many structures as possible, in the Fouta-Djalon region, in Guinea and even more widely on the African continent.
From Paris to Labé: a two-phase launch for GRAINES
The first phase of the launch seminar in Paris focused on the organisational and strategic aspects of the GRAINES project, formalising commitments through the signing of partnership agreements. The event also served as an opportunity to review the various work packages, their distribution among partners, and the overall timeline and expected deliverables.
Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University will be involved in activities related to institutional visibility and international outreach, as well as support for professional integration. As part of this effort, capacity-building workshops and training mobility are planned.
The second phase of the project launch will take place this June at Université de Labé, with the start of thematic working groups.
