The halls of the University of Murcia were filled with ideas and exchanges as the RISE Training Week brought together a delegation of 36 representatives from the 7 university partners from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, for four intensive days devoted to career guidance, entrepreneurship and university–business cooperation.
Organised in the framework of the RISE project, coordinated by UNIMED – Mediterranean Universities Union, the Training Week set out to strengthen the role of Career Development Centres (CDCs) and International Relations Offices (IROs) as strategic services to support students’ transition to the labour market, to connect universities with their territories and local developments, and to serve their local communities.
A warm welcome in Murcia
The programme opened with a strong institutional backing. Participants were welcomed by:
- José Luján, Rector, Universidad de Murcia
- Juan María Vázquez, Counselor for Environment, Mar Menor, Universities and Research
- Alicia Rubio, Vice-Rector for Students and Employment, Universidad de Murcia
- Silvia Marchionne, UNIMED, RISE Project Coordinator
Their messages converged on a shared idea: universities today are not only places of learning, but active agents of social and economic development. Supporting students’ employability, promoting innovation and building bridges with local stakeholders are no longer “extra” activities – they are part of the university core mission and strategic approach.
Following the institutional greetings, the first training day was coordinated by the Vice-Rector for Students and Employment prof. Alicia Rubio, RISE Local coordinator at UMU, and she started presenting all the UMU employability services and the interconnection among all the activities offered by the university.
In particular she moderated a roundtable titled “Aligning students’ curricula with labor market needs and employer feedback mechanisms”
The session explored how the University of Murcia aligns students’ curricula with labor market needs through close collaboration with employers, skills development initiatives, and flexible learning tools. Overall, the presentations showcased multiple coordinated strategies—career guidance, entrepreneurship support, employer engagement, curriculum innovation and microcredentials as flexible, modular learning tools that can boost innovation, support lifelong learning and help bridge skill shortages when integrated into quality-assured academic pathways.
Day 2 – Discovering services for young talents
The second day shifted the focus more concretely to career development and young talents.
In the morning, the delegation visited the CEEIM – European Centre for Enterprises and Innovation, a key actor in the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem. Here, participants could see first-hand how an innovation centre supports start-ups, encourages collaboration among entrepreneurs and contributes to a more dynamic local economy.
Back on campus, they met with three key structures of the Universidad de Murcia:
- UMUEmprende, which promotes an entrepreneurial culture within the university community;
- the Employment Guidance and Information Centre (COIE), which offers counselling, workshops and tools to accompany students and graduates in their first steps towards employment;
- the International Relations Office (IRO), which opens up mobility and partnership opportunities, broadening students’ horizons beyond national borders.
Through the visits to these offices, the Kurdish participants were able not only to hear about their daily work and the many services provided to students, but also to meet the staff to whom they addressed questions and exchanged experiences, challenges and practices. as a chance to reflect on how similar services might be strengthened or newly developed within their own institutions in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and how to adapt the existing services for the benefit of the Kurdish students.
In the afternoon, a roundtable on “The entrepreneurial ecosystem in Murcia” brought together representatives from the university and local stakeholders. The discussion emphasised that effective cooperation between universities, public bodies, companies and innovation centres can foster start-up growth, talent development, strengthen employability and sustain internationalisation efforts. The cases shared offered tangible, transferable models for the RISE partners.
Day 3 – Building bridges with business and engaging alumni
The third day delved into university–business cooperation, a key dimension for making study paths more relevant to labour market needs.
Sessions explored how to build and consolidate relations with local entrepreneurs and companies, create joint initiatives and develop channels for ongoing dialogue. Participants discussed how different university offices work together to support innovation and knowledge transfer, from internships and collaborative projects to research partnerships.
Another central topic was alumni engagement. Former students can act as mentors, guest speakers, partners in projects or bridges to companies. The experiences shared in Murcia showed how structured alumni networks can enrich career development activities and provide inspiration and role models for current students. Alumni can be mentors, facilitators, trainers, entry points in the labor market, but most importantly offer a constructive perspective on what comes after higher education. Most Kurdish universities are willing to create or enforce Alumni networks and the example provided in Murcia was of great inspiration.
The day concluded with a focus group with the RISE Project External Evaluators, David Alpera and Roberto Escarré. In an open and reflective atmosphere, participants discussed what they had learned, what seemed most transferable to their context and what kind of support they might still need. The focus group helped participants to self-reflect on the impact generated by the project, the engagement level required to scale the initiative and to how to better align activities with their strategic goals. This feedback will help refine the project and maximise its long-term legacy.
Day 4 – Soft skills and hackathons
The final day looked at a dimension that is often less visible in curricula but crucial for success: soft skills.
Discussions centred on how competencies such as communication, teamwork, problem solving, creativity and adaptability are essential to students not only for employability, but also for becoming an active part of the third mission of universities – their social, cultural and civic contribution. Through student representation, voluntary activities, language training, recreation, media and sport, the university offers multiple opportunities for self-growth.
Participants then took part in a lively workshop on “Hackathons as a Tool to Boost Employability and Entrepreneurship in CDCs”, managed by Prismatico, a business consulting firm in Murcia specialized in design thinking and Lean Startup methodologies to help companies validate and develop new products, services, and experiences. and that collaborates with the University of Murcia. Through interactive activities and concrete examples, they explored how hackathons can:
- strengthen students’ transversal skills in a practical, collaborative setting;
- stimulate entrepreneurial thinking and innovation, by working on real challenges;
- connect universities with local communities and ecosystems, involving companies, institutions and civil society actors as mentors, jury members or partners.
The workshop offered many ideas on how CDCs in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq might adapt this format to their own realities.
Returning home with new skills and perspectives
The participants from universities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq now return home not just with notes and presentations, but with a shared experience, new partnerships and a concrete set of tools and inspirations. They bring back ideas to:
- strengthen their Career Development Centres and International Relations Offices;
- build more solid bridges between universities and the labour market;
- and create environments where students are encouraged to take initiative, innovate and contribute to their communities.
Moreover, during the four days in Murcia, the Kurdish universities had also the opportunity to set the ground for future collaborations with the University of Murcia by signing new MoUs and by discussing concrete examples for new projects of students and staff mobility, new potential partnership with different faculties at UMU and the Kurdish Universities.
In this sense, the RISE Training Week in Murcia has been more than a study visit: it has been a space for mutual learning, reflection and future collaboration, for intercultural dialogue and friendship, laying another stone in the construction of more inclusive, dynamic and impactful higher education systems and mutual understanding.
Looking forward to the next Training Week in Rome in January 2026!
RESOURCES
Day 1
Aligning students’ curricula with labor market needs and employer feedback mechanisms
Day 2
Visits to the services at UMU
The entrepreneurial ecosystem in Murcia
Day 3
How to build a relation with academia: creating connections and synergies among local entrepreneurs with students, educators and the university community
How UMU offices work with companies
Sharing the experience of the Alumni Board of Directors in contributing to the career development activities
Day 4
Another way of acquiring soft skills