2026-11-03 11:38:35
Beyond Project Funding: How to Sustain and Build on the Results?
The end of a funded project does not have to mean the end of its impact. The real test of sustainability is whether the tools, knowledge and partnerships developed during a project continue to generate value, evolve and reach new communities. The PROFFORMANCE+ experience offers an example of how project results can be transformed into lasting professional resources and collaborative opportunities across the European Higher Education Area.
Following the conclusion of PROFFORMANCE+ in December 2025, the Tempus Public Foundation and its international partners continued to build on the project's achievements through three interconnected approaches: keeping resources accessible and relevant, activating professional communities, and embedding project methodologies in new institutional and international collaborations.
From project outputs to practical application
Sustainable results require more than making project outputs publicly available. They need to be actively used, tested and adapted to changing institutional needs. The PROFFORMANCE Assessment Tool (PAT), the International Teaching Excellence Database and the Course Portal provide an open resource base for higher education institutions and educators seeking to reflect on and improve teaching and learning. Their continued relevance lies in their potential to support institutional self-evaluation, identify development needs and translate assessment findings into practical improvements.
Keeping professional communities active
Networks are among the most valuable long-term assets of international projects. The International Institutional PROFFORMANCE Ambassadors (IPA) Network continued its activities in 2026, moving beyond knowledge exchange towards joint institutional action. Its members launched a Joint Course Design Competence Assessment, using PAT to explore teaching and course design competences in their institutions.
In parallel, the PROFFORMANCE Community Events created new opportunities for professional learning. The international Upgrade your course: Make it truly student-centred programme attracted 300 registrations from more than ten countries. More than 100 participants started the online programme, supported by nine expert consultations, thematic discussions and peer-learning activities. Its online phase was complemented by an on-site programme in Budapest, where the 25 most active educators transformed their own teaching challenges into development opportunities and explored collaborative international course design.
Extending impact through new partnerships and professional engagement
The continued dissemination of PROFFORMANCE methodologies also reached new professional communities. In 2026, the PROFFORMANCE team and its experts presented the project's results in five countries – Austria, Hungary, the United States, Georgia and Portugal – connecting the approach to wider discussions on teaching quality, digitalisation, internationalisation, inclusion and sustainability.
These developments illustrate an important principle: sustainability is not about preserving a project exactly as it was, but about creating the conditions for its results to evolve. Open tools provide the infrastructure, professional networks maintain the exchange of expertise, and new collaborations enable further adaptation and application.
The lasting legacy of PROFFORMANCE is therefore not only a set of tools and resources, but an active community and a shared professional approach to improving higher education teaching. Its experience demonstrates how international cooperation can extend well beyond a funding period when project outcomes are translated into continued learning, institutional engagement and collective action.
