IP4Growth was kicked off at the University of Alicante (UA) on 18^th and 19^th November 2013 together with another 5 EDULINK projects which support sustainable energy and agricultural practices. Project introduction and tasks’ deployment in an individual meeting with the IP4Growth consortium from West Africa (Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Sénégal) and EU (United Kingdom and Spain) was followed by the joint session.

As described in the project title, Enhancing Intellectual Property Capacities for Agricultural Development - IP4Growth, it focuses West Africa region with an objective to contribute to the agricultural and socio-economic development through enhancement of HEIs' competences in Intellectual Property (IP) management with the assistance from the UA and UQML.

IP4Growth has been designed with the aim to benefit in the medium-long term the agricultural and societal tissue of the ACP targeted countries, starting from enhancing capacities of a key link in the knowledge transfer chain, i.e. the HEIs, to applying lessons learned for the socio-economic growth of the countries involved.

The kick-off event, which attracted an approximate 50 delegates from Africa, Caribbean and the Pacific, provided networking opportunities between the different EDULINK projects co-ordinated by the UA as well as a space to discuss the activities and project regulations. The meeting was divided into 2 sessions: A plenary session in the morning in which all six projects’ partners were informed the common rules of the EDULINK programme and discussed the key issues, such as exploitation and dissemination, and quality. After that, individual meetings were held with a view to deepening the understandings of the distinct activities, outputs and results expected.

The other 5 EDULINK projects are:

SUCCEED Network – East African Higher Education Network on Sustainable and Energy Efficient Campus Development

CAP4INNO  – Knowledge transfer capacity building for enhanced energy access & efficiency in the Caribbean

EPIC – Renewable energy in Pacific islands

CAPACITY4FOOD – Integrated Soil Fertility Management for Food Security matching capacities in Anglophone West African Nations HEIs with local needs

FisherMan  – Capacity building for sustainable Fisheries Management in the Southwest Indian Ocean