What is the case?

All countries in Europe are interconnected, and there is an increasing need for the transfer of knowledge. This means that the further development of higher education is not possible without the development of collaboration at all levels.

Facilitating internationalisation

Contemporary Europe is characterised by a strong knowledge community, consisting of well-cooperating universities and universities of applied sciences, and their connections with regional communities, businesses, and society as a whole. The increasing internationalisation of higher education is therefore essential for the development of European society. For continuous, successful further internationalisation of higher education, all aspects and components must be considered. This includes student and staff mobility, transformation of curricula and study programmes, new learning forms, collaboration in high-quality research, creation of modern policies, development of partnerships between government, businesses, knowledge institutions, and citizens, etc.

What is the project doing about it?

INVEST4EXCELLENCE creates the background for the development and implementation of research and innovation ideas for regional sustainable development, the exchange of best practices, and the sharing of common research infrastructure and resources. This enhances the human potential in research and innovation of the INVEST Alliance and contributes to the creation of a knowledge-based civil society engaged in creating and utilising high-quality research and innovation results. INVEST4EXCELLENCE will influence the interactions between institutional adaptation and the transformation of research and innovation systems in practice across the entire INVEST Alliance. INVEST4EXCELLENCE brings together a large European educational community that will actively collaborate to achieve the greatest possible learning effect from the project. Various important educational and digital technologies will be used within the project to optimise all research and innovation aspects stimulated by the INVEST Alliance.

What does the project deliver?

• A model for institutional transformation for research and innovation: a strategy for universities and universities of applied sciences to create an integrated, systematic, structural, and sustainable effect.
• A European innovation ecosystem for academia, business, and society. Regional INVEST-Living Labs will be established and linked in a European innovation ecosystem, based on transdisciplinary methods to bring together applied science, education, government, business, and citizens in learning and innovating.
• INVEST4EXCELLENCE tools for capacity building: strengthening human capital by developing the research competencies and skills of INVEST RDI staff and PhD students.
• I-EDUC8EU tool: this tool will be subsequently used in all synergies and consortia by other universities and universities of applied sciences, incorporating all organisational workflows of initiatives.
• Well-functioning group of stakeholders: provides the consortium with feedback on relevant issues and will be of great importance for the dissemination and application of the project results in practice.

Project details

Applied Research Group/researcher: Rik Eweg
Project duration: 2021 - 2024
Project partners: University of Agribusiness and Rural Development (UARD) Bulgaria, University of Thessaly (UTH) Greece, Karelia University of Applied Sciences (Karelia UAS) Finland
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): 12, 15, and 17

More information can also be found at:

https://www.invest-alliance.eu/ 

https://www.invest4excellence.eu/