The Third Mission of University in Tough Economic Conditions: the Interaction Between Universities, Enterprises and Government Bodies in the Specific Context of Mono-Company Cities

In the final qualifying work based on analysis of the practical experience of the university interacting with the key stakeholders, the specifics of the third university’s mission in difficult economic conditions of a single-industry city is investigated. The main theoretical approaches to interpretation of the university’s third mission and a description of the scientific works describing functioning of universities in single-industry cities are presented. The study uses the methodological approach proposed by M. Markhl and A. Pausist within the framework of the European Commission (EMM) project related to the study of the universities’ third mission. The main method of data collection is the method of interviewing representatives of the university, key employers and local authorities. This paper considers the main characteristics of the case study, reveals the specifics of the “historical track” of the university’s development under the conditions of a single-industry city, and a conclusion is made that successful work of the university in its main activities (education and science) under the conditions of single-industry cities is a great challenge. The main forms of the implementation of the third mission of the university in a single-industry city are presented, the mechanism and features of their implementation are considered. The identified forms of implementing the third mission are viewed as an opportunity to solve the current problems of the university’s work in the main areas of activity, as one of the ways to overcome the “historical track” effect, and the conclusion is that often success of implementing the practices that are part of the traditional understanding of the third mission is a key prerequisite for the survival of the university in a single-industry city. Key words: university’s third mission, single-industry city, city-forming enterprises, the “Plant-Vtuz” system, educational cluster, social involvement.