​Research plays one of the most important roles in the development of our regions, industry, business and society. And now researchers from five higher education institutions are working together on the themes of digitalisation, sustainability, arts and creative industry, energy transition, entrepreneurship and innovation and healthy ageing. The Thematic Interest Groups are established by European ENGAGED University based on many similarities and complementarities among the universities.

This workshop was a very fruitful meeting where researchers got to know each other better an started to share knowledge. They made plans on working together in the future on many interesting research projects, joint research and publications. The workshop promises that many multi-disciplinary, cross sectoral research will come out of the collaboration reacting on the society needs. Likeminded colleagues will continue in various aspects and levels connecting students, regional stakeholders, industry, clusters, networks and society as well. In this way we will make an impact to our institutions, to our regions and also at European level.

Are you interested to join the Thematic Interest Groups? Please contact Päivi Puutio (paivi.puutio@tuni.fi) from Tampere University of Applied Sciences or send an email to eeu@org.hanze.nl.

​Case: Dutch Engaged Region

In the Northern Netherlands context, place-based cooperatives have emerged that focus on local and regional challenges and opportunities. These cooperatives differ from the more traditional socially or business driven cooperatives which are also abundantly present in our region, which has a long history of cooperative networks and organizations. The place focused cooperatives in the Groningen-Assen urban field are called Gebiedscoöperatie (area cooperatives) when they are focused on a local area and there are a number of these cooperatives established and in development. Next to this, a regional cooperative, Regiocoöperatie, was established to support Gebiedscoöperaties and to develop initiatives at the regional level.

Each area has one or more Innovation Workplaces (IWP) focussing on challenges identified by the local stakeholders. Stakeholders from industry (especially small and medium sized enterprises), local government, education and civil society come together, share their knowledge and resources to co-create and implement solutions for the chosen challenges.

The Dutch engaged model is motivated by the limited innovation capacities (R&D resources) in the region and therefore leverages students and researchers as a driving force to generate new knowledge and innovations in collaboration with other stakeholders. Together, students, researchers and other stakeholders become learning communities focused on regional challenges.

Engaged University

Societies are faced with multiple pressures on different fronts, namely, ecological, social, economic and political. Climate change and disinformation are only two such examples. The urgency of these multiple and parallel challenges makes it more urgent for Universities to focus their efforts to engage and be engaged with their stakeholders. The local region is an important context of engagement for Higher Education Institutes (HEIs), and for the region, HEIs are important sources of knowledge, training and innovation.

The key role of an engaged university is one of development – developing regional knowledge and innovation ecosystems together with the regional partners and aligning its mission to policy at different (EU, national, regional) levels. EU Policy for example is facilitating the engaged universities principle through its main Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, Horizon Europe, that emphasizes the need for research and innovation (R&I) to tackle global challenges and support uptake of such solutions into markets and society.

In the Next Newsletter: The role of the European ENGAGED University (EEU) in community and economic development by ENGAGED partner Waterford Institute of Technology from Ireland.

Challenged based innovation

The digital and innovative challenged based module has just premiered and is designed by the European ENGAGED University. Companies from ENGAGED regions in The Netherlands, Portugal, Finland, Germany, Romania and Ireland have submitted their challenging assignments for students to work on. These challenges were presented during the second EEU webinar organised by the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança. Many students applied for the module after that. Over seventy students and teachers kicked off on Friday March 26 2021. They will work on possible solutions regarding active ageing, sustainable tourism or citizen participation in town halls. Every team is composed by a mix of students from different countries and a variety of bachelor and master studies.

The final pitch is planned to happen on June 4th 2021 and everyone is invited. If you are interested to join, please send an email to EEU@org.hanze.nl.

Digital platform

Students, teachers and challenge owners participate now in a learning experiment with an online mass collaboration arena. This online arena was initially designed for a global hackathon, a gathering of software and website developers, designers and business strategist to work together on a theme. The goal is to come up with an innovative and creative solution for a specific theme or to solve a company’s problem. Now European ENGAGED University wants to use the platform called Momentum to engage students and support collaborative learning digitally in a creative and effective way. This is an exciting an innovative pilot during the educational challenged-based module of European ENGAGED University.

Joint Research

The use of Momentum for education is subject of applied research. Communication, interactive learning, collaboration and teambuilding are therefore key factors that should be facilitated by the digital tool that is used to support challenge-based learning. What tool can actually support all these things? Here comes the experiment with Momentum in place. Hanze University of Applied Sciences coordinates this within European ENGAGED University.

Next to that, Hanze UAS participates in another experiment with Momentum in the Netherlands with five Dutch educational institutions such as a secondary school, vocational schools and universities. All participating schools with their students and teachers are pioneering new ways of working and learning together with different educational settings and goals. From accountancy university lectures to teaching geography to 14-years old students and piloting innovative educational methods such as the challenge-based innovation module of EEU.

The question is if Momentum can be an inspiring and helpful educational technology for our students, teaching staff and problem owners of 21^st century practice-orientated education and research. For more information about the research, please contact Madelon van Oostrom, researcher at Hanze University of Applied Sciences.

On 28th April 2021, the European ENGAGED University (EEU) partnership will hold a webinar workshop to progress the development of PhDs and DBAs in the following thematic areas:

(i) Empowering citizens and communities;

(ii) Redefining regions and regional development;

(iii) Engaged and inclusive practitioner-based curriculum development.

For further information click here. To register for this webinar workshop please send your name, contact details and your preferred theme to EEU@org.hanze.nl.​

Project leader Rima Dijkstra explains and elaborates on what makes ENGAGED such a special and outstanding initiative and why it is so different from other initiatives. She states among other things: “Acquiring knowledge from across the whole of Europe enables us to add value within the region”. Read the entire interview about collaboration, building bridges and tapping into each other’s strengths here https://bit.ly/3aoFjtb

Commission meeting with stakeholders

The Commission meeting was attended by the principals of all six partner universities as well as several of their stakeholders from the region. Marinus Tabak, director of RWE Groningen, also participated in the Commission meeting. The RWE in Groningen is the largest energy producer in the Netherlands stationed in the Eemshaven in the Northern Netherlands where ENGAGED partner Hanze UAS is situated nearby. ‘This new European ENGAGED University (EEU) is of great importance. Hanze University has a pivotal role in the energy transition and the hydrogen economy we are aiming at in the region. We test new ideas, train professionals and educate new engineers at Hanze UAS. This counts for the acceleration of green chemistry as well. The triple helix we established here is very well functioning and with this ENGAGED university we have to opportunity to extend this to EU level.’

Manuel Heitor the Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education of Portugal gave his full support for the initiative of the European ENGAGED University. Portugal has the presidency of the Council for the European Union the next half year and the focus lies on strengthen linkages between science and employment; open collaborative research area (ERA) aiming at more inclusiveness of European universities and development of research carriers. Polytechnical institutes and universities of applied sciences are a changing factor in skilling for employability and contributing to development of knowledge triangle: education, research and innovation. View this Commission meeting.

Webinar ENGAGED challenge based module

The webinar for student and teachers took place in the afternoon. Partners presented regional societal challenges inviting students to contribute finding solutions to tackle them. The ENGAGED challenge based module was further explained and discussed by Pro-President of IPB Vera Ferro-Lebres and moreover it was explained how students are able to apply for this special EEU module. This module is designed by the six partners of the European ENGAGED University. Several challenging assignments were presented by stakeholders and entrepreneurs from the ENGAGED regions in Portugal, Ireland, Germany, Finland, Romania and the Netherlands. View the webinar.

Did you miss it or want to watch it again? You can still watch both events on the IPB YouTube channel.

​Second ENGAGED webinar 

Next week Tuesday January 26th (15:00-15:40 AM CET) there will be an online webinar to watch about the developments of the new European university the European ENGAGED University. This webinar will be streamed from Bragança, Portugal and will be viewable live on YouTube https://bit.ly/2N3mVte.

In particular, this webinar will discuss the ENGAGED challenge based module. This is a special module designed by the six partners of the European ENGAGED University. Students will be able to apply for this module in the near future. This webinar can therefore be very interesting for you as a student, but also as a teacher to see what the developments are of this new European ENGAGED University.

Agenda

• 15:00 Welcome
• 15:05 What’s new at the European ENGAGED University
  • The ENGAGED challenge based module. What is it and how it will work?
  • The ENGAGED facilitators community, the challenges and the stakeholders
  • How to apply (students)?
• 15:40 Q&A and closing words

​The online event started with an presentation of the inititative by European ENGAGED University coordinator Hugo Velthuijsen from Hanze UAS. Next the president and vice-presidents of partners introduced their institutions:

• Waterford Institute of Technology in Ireland
• Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi in Romania
• Hochschule Bremen City University of Applied Sciences in Germany
• Tampere University of Applied Sciences in Finland
• Polytechnic Institute of Bragança in Portugal

Finally, the first pilot action A challenge-based extracurricular module for student and staff mobility was presented by Vera Ferro-Lebres of the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança.

Did you miss the online event? You can watch the full webinar.

More information about European ENGAGED University can be found on www.europeanengageduniversity.eu.

The next European ENGAGED University meeting will be hosted by the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança in Portugal on on January 26, 2021.

​Six progressive higher education institutions (HEIs) which will establish the European ENGAGED University will sign an outline agreement on Wednesday December 2 2020. This formalises the alliance to start a new kind of university in Europe. The main goal of which to prepare students for the future economy.

Engaged in the region and beyond

The partners are all universities or institutions which are very involved in their region and beyond. They want to contribute to a sustainable future and resilient economy and are driven by societal challenges. All of them work closely together with divers stakeholders such as entrepreneurs, small and bigger companies, governmental institutions, and civic society organisations.

The official settlement of the alliance took place virtually during the online commission meeting on Wednesday December 2 2020 hosted by lead partner Hanze UAS.

Partners

The partners are Hanze University of Applied Sciences (The Netherlands), Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (Portugal), Tampere University of Applied Sciences (Finland), Waterford Institute of Technology (Ireland), Bremen University of Applied Sciences (Germany), Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iaşi (Romania).