OUK ADVANCES PROSPER PARTNERSHIP MAPPING TO STRENGTHEN STRATEGIC COLLABORATIONS
The Open University of Kenya (OUK), through the EU-funded PROSPER Collaboration, participated in a Partnership Mapping Workshop aimed at strengthening the University's strategic collaborations and enhancing the impact of its local, regional and international partnerships. The workshop, held on 15 July 2026, brought together representatives from partner institutions to review OUK's existing partnership portfolio, assess its effectiveness and chart a roadmap for future collaboration.
The workshop forms part of the ongoing activities under the PROSPER (Promoting Sustainable Partnerships in Higher Education) collaboration, which seeks to strengthen institutional capacity in higher education through strategic international partnerships, knowledge sharing and collaborative learning. Building on previous PROSPER engagements, the exercise focused on developing a structured approach to characterising, evaluating and activating institutional partnerships to maximise their contribution to teaching, research, innovation and community engagement.
The workshop brought together representatives from the Open University of Kenya, the University of Eldoret and the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder), Germany, under the PROSPER collaboration. Participants exchanged experiences and best practices in partnership management, discussed institutional priorities and explored practical approaches to ensuring that collaborations remain active, mutually beneficial and aligned with each institution's strategic goals. The discussions also focused on strengthening internationalisation through sustainable partnerships that support teaching, research, innovation and institutional capacity development.
During the workshop, participants reviewed the preliminary findings of OUK's partnership mapping exercise, which established that the University has signed 31 partnerships since 2025, with approximately 65 per cent being national collaborations. These partnerships span government ministries and agencies, universities, research institutions, professional associations, private sector organisations, NGOs and development partners, demonstrating OUK's growing network of collaborators supporting quality education, research and institutional development.
A comparative analysis between OUK and the University of Eldoret further highlighted the strengths of each institution's partnership portfolio and identified opportunities for growth. For OUK, research collaboration emerged as the leading area of international engagement, followed by joint teaching and curriculum development, strategic partnerships, funding collaborations and joint academic programmes. The findings reaffirm the University's commitment to leveraging partnerships to enhance academic excellence, innovation and global engagement.
The workshop also explored ways of measuring the effectiveness of institutional partnerships. Participants proposed assessing collaborations based on indicators such as student and staff mobility, collaborative projects, research outputs, funding generated, institutional engagement and the level of activity under existing Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs). They also recognised the importance of documenting active collaborations that have not yet been formalised through MoUs.
As part of the discussions, participants underscored the need to prioritise partnerships that create long-term institutional value. For OUK, future collaborations will focus on complementary expertise, access to strategic networks and funding opportunities and partnerships that support the University's distinctive open and digital learning model.
The workshop concluded with an action plan that includes refining OUK's partnership database, mapping active collaborations without formal agreements, developing partnership assessment templates, establishing selection criteria for strategic partnerships and drafting a comprehensive characterisation study for international partnerships. These activities will be implemented over the coming months as the PROSPER collaboration continues to strengthen partnership management practices across participating institutions.
Through the PROSPER collaboration, the Open University of Kenya continues to reinforce its commitment to building sustainable partnerships that advance quality higher education, foster research and innovation, expand international engagement and contribute to inclusive socio-economic development.