Yulia Aray noted that partnerships with non-profit organizations are often viewed in the context of the development of social entrepreneurship, while there is nothing specific in the relationship between universities and NGOs that goes beyond other partnerships.

“The basis and success of any cooperation lies in the observance of certain rules and an understanding of the benefits for both parties,” the expert said. Yulia Aray considered that it was very important to correctly convey these rules of interaction and benefits for NGOs, since they could act not only as clients of universities, but also as creators of projects together with them, as well as, if properly positioned, as providers of knowledge for students.

Continuing the topic of building relationships between NGOs and universities, Yulia Aray cited the experience of GSOM SPbU as an example: at the moment, the Business School has more than 200 business partners who are ready to take students for summer internships. Now both sides understand the benefits from this long-term relationship, but it took time. Non-profit organizations today are at a stage that business partners have passed much earlier: the benefits from interaction with universities are not obvious, the rules of partnership have not been established, but this does not mean that they will not meet halfway after properly built communication has been established. “There is no difference between university - business and university - NGO cooperation. The only important thing is the stage that they are all going through now. But the experience that universities and students can get in the interaction with NGOs is unique,” Yulia Aray said.

Participants of the round table "Partnership of Universities and NGOs" discussed how and why to improve relations between universities and non-profit organizations, and how to build an organizational business model for this interaction. Special attention was paid to internships for students in non-profit organizations, as well as the development of online services for the development of cooperation between universities and non-profit organizations.