A group photo from the 2025 project trip
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (March 9, 2026)–Nine students from Kirkwood Community College are participating in the Seven Bridges Project during the 2025–2026 academic year. The project is an international collaboration that connects students and businesses across Europe and the United States to address real-world business challenges.
The project brings together students from partner institutions in Finland, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, and the United States to work in international teams. Throughout the academic year, students collaborate remotely to analyze business challenges and develop solutions for participating companies. For the current project, North Liberty company Centro Incorporated is serving as the U.S. company partner, joining businesses from each of the participating European countries.
“This project gives our students the opportunity to collaborate with peers from around the world while solving real business challenges,” said Kirkwood Professor of Management Dr. Lori Brown, who is also the college’s faculty leader for Seven Bridges. “Experiences like this help prepare them to work in a global economy and gain intercultural competence in the process.”
Students will conclude the collaboration during spring break, happening March 16-20, when they travel to Transylvania University of Brașov in Brașov, Romania. During the visit, international teams will meet in person and present their final recommendations directly to the companies involved in the project.
The Seven Bridges Project is an expansion of a successful collaboration previously known as the Six Bridges Project. During the 2024–2025 academic year, Kirkwood students participated alongside peers from six European higher education institutions. For European partner schools, the program was supported through Erasmus+, a European Union initiative that promotes international education and collaboration.
Students in the previous project also worked in international teams throughout the academic year before traveling to Bordeaux, France, in March 2025. There, they collaborated with local businesses, participated in industry tours, attended workshops with guest speakers, and presented final recommendations to their assigned companies. The success of that collaboration led to Kirkwood being invited back for the expanded 2025–2026 program, now called the Seven Bridges Project to reflect the college’s official role as the seventh partner institution.
The project highlights Kirkwood’s commitment to global education and experiential learning, giving students the opportunity to develop cross-cultural communication skills, international business knowledge, and professional networks that extend beyond the classroom.