The project “R&I LOOP – Shaping the way Higher Education Institutions to Research and Innovation with and for Society” aims to leverage a new profile of “civic university”, where the regional dimension, open innovation, and social innovation make it possible to adopt strategies, effectively, centered on the citizen.
This project was developed based on the priority areas of the European Union’s Agenda for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), which emphasize the need to redirect efforts to unite education, research, innovation and interaction with the community. This need arose from the findings that HEIs have to develop new skills and competencies to respond in an early and assertive way to the changing societal challenges.
The University of Beira Interior (UBI) is the coordinating organization for this European project, with partners from Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Germany, namely the University of Politecnica de Madrid, the University Politecnica delle Marche, the Johannes Gutenberg – University of Mainz and INOVA+.
The kick-off meeting took place online and was attended by Tânia Santo António, representative of the National Agency Erasmus+ for Education and Training, who will monitor the implementation of the project, in addition to the national and international partners involved.
According to Professor João Leitão, coordinator of this European project, “the consortium is mobilized, motivated and committed to the success of this project”, in favor of the participatory and open construction of a new profile of “civic university”.
