Formation and Development of Project Teams in Intersectoral Social Partnership in Russia

Abstract

In today’s socioeconomic development, public demand for spiritual and moral values and intersectoral social partnerships (ISP) is emerging, which in turn is creating new demands on the higher education system. Building on interactions between the university and social partners from the public, business, and nonprofit sectors, the Service-Learning program fosters the creation of a special type of a team that requires scientific understanding. This article, using the example of the Kazan State Power Engineering University (Tatarstan), describes and analyzes the practice of forming and developing project teams participating in the Service-Learning project, highlighting team effects. The choice of the research object is based, firstly, on the maturity of civil society in the Republic of Tatarstan, secondly, on the development of intersectoral partnerships between the state, business, and nonprofits in the republic, and the officially recognized successful implementation of the Service-Learning program. The study’s methodological framework was based on the concept of methodological pluralism, and the primary method was the author’s participant observation of the organization, implementation, and synthesis of team experiences in the lifecycle practices of service-learning projects in ISPs (more than 50 teams, 180 people). A secondary analysis of the results of a team retrospective, supplemented by a questionnaire, was used to identify team effects. As a result, it is concluded that intersectoral project teams in the service-learning approach are dynamic, cross-functional, and have distributed leadership. The approach itself makes a significant contribution to the development of civic awareness, professional competencies that meet labour market demands, and the development of the university’s third mission.