Background

The E³UDRES² Ent-r-e-novators project is embedded within the European University alliance E³UDRES², which is aimed at promoting the development of small and medium-sized cities and their transformation from rural environments into smart and sustainable regions. E³UDRES² puts great emphasis on nurturing the potential of every researcher, educator and learner and supporting them to act as an “Ent-r-e-novator” (i.e., entrepreneur, researcher, educator, innovator); a term representing problem-solving, entrepreneurial, inquisitive, open-minded individuals who have a deep sense of social and societal responsibility and put their energy and efforts into serving the best interests of the wider community. Ent-r-e-novators take on a leading role in the renovation and transformation of our education and research institutions into open and inclusive ecosystems (into  I-living labs). In the spirit of inclusiveness and interdisciplinarity people on all career stages and from different backgrounds, any student or worker, inside or outside our institutions, are encouraged to use the tools and resources at their disposal and become an Ent-r-e-novator  and contribute to the E³UDRES² mission and vision for building smart and sustainable regions.

Project Content

The members of the E³UDRES² consortium are higher education institutions (mainly universities of applied sciences), that are both anchored in their regions as well as active within the European Higher Education Area. They establish and advance regional Research and Innovation (R&I) ecosystems, maintain and expand their networks on the pan-European level, set great store by open and engaged knowledge exchange, challenged-based education, mission-oriented research and human-centred innovation. Although a great deal has already been achieved, these regional universities still do not live up to their full potential. Therefore, it is necessary to take further steps and to strengthen the research base, improve the research infrastructure promote the mobility of researchers, raise the human financial resources dedicated to R&I and activities, develop new career paths for research and administrative staff, and remove legal barriers that stand in the way of all this.

Goals

In the project Ent-r-e-novator the E³UDRES²  partners aim to strengthen Research and Innovation, to promote inclusive and participative dialogues with our institutions and regions, and to employ innovative and future-oriented co-creation methodologies. For this we:

• Co-create a common strategy and agenda that unlocks the potential for excellence in Research and Innovation and helps to push forward with the transformation into a multi-institutional European Research and Innovation Centre for Smart and Sustainable Regions.
• Develop best practices and a strategy for pooling research, expertise, data and resources and for getting access to other strategic research infrastructures.
• Set up support programmes to further Open Science, Open Innovation, Open Education, Engaged Science and Engaged Education.
• Work out common institutional strategies and policies that facilitate knowledge transfer and mobility and open up new career paths.
• Seek and deepen the dialogue with peer Alliances and HEIs, HEI associations, advocacy groups, and policy-makers to contribute to the co-creation of future EEA/ERA work programmes and to inform better policies.

Methods

Pursuing a transdisciplinary approach and involving partners from a quite different backgrounds is a central element of the project. For this a common language and knowledge base that facilitates and encourages participatory engagement is set up. The E³UDRES² consortium expands its R&I networks and pushes forward novel approaches for co-ideating and co-creating mission-oriented research, challenge-based, human-centred innovations and engaged knowledge exchange. It also places great emphasis on motivating, encouraging and strengthening (young) researchers, learners, innovators, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders to participate in European collaborations. Resonating innovation cycles and inter-disciplinary and inter-sectoral collaboration to tackle current and future challenges are at the heart of all this. Another main pillar of the networks’ endeavours are co-creation ecosystems. For instance, E³UDRES² establishes I-Living Labs and similar formats (e.g., innovation hackathons and bootcamps). The “I” stands for inspiring, innovative, intercultural, international, interdisciplinary, intersectoral, inclusive and intense. Overall, the labs adopt a systematic user cocreation approach that integrates research and innovation processes with real-life use cases and involves inter-disciplinary teams and various stakeholders. Along the lines of this framework, E³UDRES³ Ent-r-e-novators develops and organizes workshops, questionnaires, consultations, surveys, pilots and events, and actively seeks input from a wide range of experts and stakeholders (e.g., researchers, administration, educators, citizens, industry etc.).

Results

E³UDRES² Ent-r-e-novators expands and strengthens its cross-disciplinary and cross-sectoral key R&I networks and uses them to forward collaborative research and open innovation by further developing competences, skills, methods, trainings, services and management structures that are needed on the way to smart and sustainable regions. E³UDRES² Ent-r-e-novators includes, interacts and collaborates with a diversity of people from different backgrounds, with academic institutions, regional authorities, companies, European R&I networks and regional innovation ecosystems.

Funding