More than 250 students from five European higher education institutions successfully completed the SAMExperience General Course in June 2026, marking an important milestone for the project. As SAMExperience approaches its conclusion in September, the learning experience is also preparing to reach beyond the participating universities: from September, the SAMExperience e-learning platform will be open to the general public, giving anyone interested in developing Sustainable Alliance Management competences access to the course and its learning resources.
During the academic year, students from Mondragon Unibertsitatea (Spain), West University of Timișoara (Romania), Lithuania Business College (Lithuania), University of Foggia (Italy), and University of Economics in Katowice (Poland) participated in the SAMExperience learning journey. By June, more than 250 students had successfully reached the end of the General Course, putting into practice the knowledge and competences developed throughout the programme.
The SAMExperience General Course has been designed to develop the competences required to create, manage and sustain strategic and sustainable alliances. Rather than focusing only on theoretical knowledge, the course follows the development of an alliance through four interconnected stages: FOCUS, CREATE, MANAGE and SUSTAIN.
The journey begins with FOCUS, which addresses strategic reasoning and the decision of whether to collaborate. CREATE focuses on designing the collaborative project, selecting partners and developing the alliance agreement. MANAGE moves into the implementation of the collaborative project, while SUSTAIN encourages reflection on its continuity and evolution.
Across these stages, the course addresses 12 key competences for Sustainable Alliance Management. They include systems thinking, strategic vision, circular project management, alliance design, interpersonal skills, sustainability-related norms and procedures, conflict resolution, planning and organisational skills, circular interdisciplinary collaboration, adaptive management, capacity building and empowerment, and sustainability values.
The course also incorporates practical activities that encourage participants to apply and reflect on these competences. The SAMExperience Assessment Centre includes different types of exercises, such as video visualisation, in-basket and in-tray activities, case resolution, challenges and the SAM Test. Together with the learning content and the Global Challenge, these activities create a learning experience that connects knowledge with situations and decisions relevant to collaborative professional environments.
The entire learning journey is brought together through the SAMExperience e-learning platform. Within Work Package 4, the West University of Timișoara (WUT) has managed the platform, supporting the digital delivery of the course and providing a common environment where participants can access the different stages, learning materials and activities.
The successful completion of the course by more than 250 students demonstrates how the work developed across the SAMExperience partnership has been transformed into a concrete learning experience. It is also particularly significant as the project approaches its conclusion in September 2026.
However, the end of the project will not mean the end of access to the learning experience. From September, the SAMExperience e-learning platform will be open to the general public. This will make the course available beyond the students of the five participating higher education institutions and extend access to anyone interested in strengthening their knowledge and skills in Sustainable Alliance Management.
The open course can therefore provide a learning opportunity for a broad audience interested in strategic collaboration and sustainability. Participants will be able to explore how alliances are conceived, created, managed and sustained while developing competences that can support collaboration across teams, organisations and different professional contexts.
Opening the platform to the general public is also an important part of the legacy and sustainability of SAMExperience. The learning resources, methodologies and tools created through the European partnership will remain available beyond the project’s implementation period, allowing the knowledge developed through SAMExperience to reach a broader community of learners.
More than 250 students have already completed the SAMExperience learning journey. From September, the course will be open to the general public, making the knowledge, tools and learning resources developed through the project accessible to anyone interested in strengthening their competences in Sustainable Alliance Management, strategic collaboration and sustainability.
Article written by the West University of Timișoara team (Romania)