The FRIENDS project’s 5th partner meeting was held in Gliwice, Poland and was hosted by SUT. From 4 to 7 July 2022, FRIENDS partners were able to discuss important issues, including FRIENDS Teahouses’ operation and universities’ extracurricular agenda, the Community Development Plans, and most importantly, streamlined efforts were made to draft and design the FRIENDS Sustainability Roadmap comprising the 12 PC HEIs’ sustainability plans. In the framework of parallel co-creative workshop sessions, partners focussed on the nuances and wider implications of the project’s sustainability planning that will ensure key results sustainability and outline internal mechanisms and financial sources necessary to guarantee their long-term use beyond 2022. After project’s end, the 12 FRIENDS Teahouses integrated into Asian HEIs organisational structures will be the focal points harmonising all IaH measures aimed at project results sustainability on campus and beyond. The FRIENDS Sustainability Roadmap for the period of 2023-2027 uses the Business Model Canvas template and approach and envisions measures, resources, communication channels, appointment of responsible persons at partner country institutions and general description of post-project activities.

The meeting, yet again was held in a hybrid mode. In total, 26 project partners attended the meeting face-to-face and they were joined online by partners from RIM, SRU, and UC who could not travel to Europe. Each of the 12 Asian HEIs in FRIENDS presented in detail their project progress and shared insights about both the faced challenges and the experienced success stories in the process of project implementation. Additionally, since the project’s end was nearing, partners held work sessions to plan the Final International Conference to be held in Bhutan, and the Final Card Report Day which is to lead to the Final Internal Evaluation Report. A balanced participation from all partners added to the meeting’s success and the discussions held provided valuable feedback for everyone involved. (5th FRIENDS Partner Meeting Agenda, Video Recordings from the Work Sessions)