The year of 2024 at the Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences (ViA) has been especially filled with important international events and initiatives that strengthens the European University network and expands cooperation opportunities. ViA actively participates in E³UDRES² alliance projects, which aims to promote innovation, develop future skills and create international contacts that provide added value to both students and academic staff.

We started year of 2024 with the event "E³UDRES² breakfast", which took place at Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences in February, during the Vidzeme Innovation Week. The main theme of the event was the opportunities and challenges of diversity to discuss the future of the European University. The visitors included both students and teaching staff, researchers and cooperation partners. Video review from the event.

In May, we held a week-long Erasmus+ Mixed intensive program for staff "Innovative methods for future skills 2.0". The aim of the intensive program was to develop the pedagogical skills of university staff to work with innovative teaching methods, such as virtual reality, multimedia, breakout room, etc. The acquired knowledge will help in future work with students and in developing their skills. ViA was visited by staff from partner universities in Slovakia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Austria, Romania, Cyprus, Germany and Finland. The participants also discussed the vision of the future European University and created a context map - what they think the ideal university of the future looks like. Reflections included not only innovative teaching methods, but also technology, people skills, etc.

During the summer break, the students not only rested, but also participated in the "E³UDRES² Bootcamp 2024", which took place in Belgium this year. Bootcamp is a five-day event where E³UDRES² university students come together to find solutions to various challenges. This year's theme was healthcare, focusing on its technological, business, sustainability and entrepreneurial side. Līga Āboliņa, a 2nd-year media and journalism student of Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences, and Evelīna Dokāne, a 2nd-year communication and public relations student, took part in the event. Video review with student experience stories.

The new 2024/2025 academic year we started powerfully. From September 16 to 20, the International Week took place at ViA, within the framework of which teaching staff and researchers from 11 countries - Latvia, Ukraine, Albania, Romania, Czech Republic, Georgia, Egypt, Poland, Moldova, Belgium and Georgia - gathered at Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences, representing a total of 16 higher educational institutions and universities. Over the course of five days, seminars, workshops, guest lectures and panel discussions took place, including the "E³UDRES² breakfast" event and discussions at the World Cafe for the second time.

ViA development vice-rector Iveta Putniņa:

“Why is ViA doing this? Why is it important for everyone to build their international contact network? First of all, so that ViA lecturers, researchers, heads of structural units and students can understand and communicate with foreign colleagues, and are able to transfer the best international experience to Latvia, their region and city. And secondly, it is an opportunity to test your ideas and find new directions that are also relevant at the international level. In Latvia we would generally have much less problems if everyone responsible for the development of a field had tested their ideas in an international environment. ViA's network of international contacts is our asset, which allows us to undertake to solve such issues in higher education, for which it is not yet clear how to do it better." Video review from the event.

At the end of September, ViA hosted the European Night of Scientists event, where participants aged 14 and over, including schoolchildren and students, took part in the express training "Entrepreneur and scientist met and understood each other". During the training, the participants took part in activities that promote the generation of creative ideas and problem solving. The event combined elements of design thinking and gamification, created great interest among young people. Video review of the event.

At the beginning of October, ViA E³UDRES² team - rector, PhD Agnese Dāvidsone, E³UDRES² project manager ViA, development vice-rector Iveta Putniņa, ViA council member Inese Ebele, HESPI research assistant Katrīne Kūkoja, ViA students, E³UDRES² student council representatives Karīna Anna Lapiņa, Marta Klēra Priede and Denis Nazarovs went to Fulda, Germany to participate in the "E³UDRES² General Assembly".  This event was held for two days, where more than 100 representatives from nine E³UDRES² partner universities gathered. The first meeting was also held with the partner university associated with E³UDRES² from Ukraine, whose representatives shared ideas on how they can get involved in the European University Alliance and what plans to realize together in the future. A new president from the Saxion University of Applied Sciences (Netherlands) and a vice-president from UCLL Limburg University (Belgium) were also elected in the student council. Rector of ViA, PhD Agnese Dāvidsone after the event: "We spent intense days filled with good conversations and discussions. In the rectors council, we made important decisions together."

In October, we again welcomed guests in Valmiera and organized the "E³UDRES² International Engagement Circus" (IEC) from October 14 to 18. It was a unique event that brought together more than 70 students from nine E³UDRES² partner countries: Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Portugal, Romania and Austria for the first time in this format. The purpose of the event was to establish contacts, gain inspiration, create innovative ideas and solutions through a series of interactive seminars and activities during these days in order to develop further in the European University.

The participants of the event visited companies as SIA "Tet", "Mira Motion", as well as met with representatives of the Ministry of Defense, learning in-depth about digital hygiene practices, which was the main focus this time. During the week, seven youth teams, together with their mentors, developed and presented ideas for tasks prepared by entrepreneurs.

Various seminars were also held, for example, lecturer Fransje Immink from the Saxion University of Applied Sciences (Netherlands) provided knowledge on how to promote creativity, unlock the mind and combine ideas, creating new and extraordinary solutions. Lecturer João Ferreira from Setubal University (Portugal) taught students how to sell an idea, or pitch, while Kristaps Felzenbergs, director of the ViA study program "Cybersecurity Engineering", gave an insight into the impact of artificial intelligence, as well as introduced interested ones to the most common tactics of cyber attackers. Video review of the event. 

This year, ViA has proven its ability to be an active and important participant in the European University Alliance, where international cooperation is promoted. The organized events have served as a platform for exchanging experiences, generating ideas and learning new skills, thus strengthening the position of both - the university and Latvia in the international educational environment. By purposefully developing international contacts and exchanging experience, ViA continues to make a significant contribution to the realization of the vision of the future European University.

What is the future of higher education? What are the futures of education? What can we learn from Korean reforms in education? We share insights from UNESCO international forum on the Futures of Education 2024.

There are even more complex questions in order to think about many futures of education as they were discussed during UNESCO International Forum on the Futures of Education in Suwon, Republic of Korea, December 2-4, 2024:

Can education cope with the fast changes in the technologies? What are human-centered approaches to technology in education? What made it possible for Korea to announce 9 major reforms in education with the main aim to provide personalized education for all? What is the story of European University alliances and E3UDRES2 from the global perspective? What can we offer as the unique added value to other global education champions?

UNESCO presents its long-term vision and a set of principles to realize the transformative potential of education in the 2021 report of the International Commission on the Futures of Education "Reimagining Our Futures Together: A new social contract for education".

This report is broadening the conversations on philosophies and principles needed to guide education. The report is  translated already in 16 Languages, among these also in Portugese and Latvian.

The discussions in this forum built upon the concepts which were already proposed in the 2021 report and were exploring more HOW the proposed visions and principles might be applied: how to rebuild our relationships with each other, with the planet, and with technology. The participants of the Forum reflected on the three key questions which should be relevant also to every E³UDRES² meeting:

1) What should we continue doing?

2) What should we abandon?

3) What needs to be creatively reimagined?

Trends on Current Core Top Skills

According to Future of Jobs Report 2023 (World Economic Forum) the top 10 skills are following:

When we look at the current core top 10 skills, you can see that the majority of them are linked to cognitive and self-efficacy skills, as well working with others. We can also describe them as skills which AI is missing. Therefore the guiding question for next period would be how to develop skill which AI is missing and how the assessment models in education should be changed in order to assess the future skills.

 

During autumn 2024 E³UDRES² team working on Future University topics also discussed trends on future jobs. These are the first trends reviews from E³UDRES² Future University Think Tank which provide short summary in two pages what is this report about, what are the key take aways and what opportunities do we see there for E³UDRES²:

• The Trend Review on The Rise of Global Digital Jobs. White paper, January 2024;
• The Trend Review on Future of Jobs Report 2023. Insight report. World Economic Forum. 2023.

These are examples of E³UDRES² Future University team work and how E³UDRES² Future University Think Tank will develop and not only gather the insights, but also provide the platform for E³UDRES² leaders to discuss the trends and think about different scenarios.

Exploring Alternative Futures of Education

Discussing different future scenarios can help us anticipate, be more resilient and future-proof and innovate in our actions today. UNESCO approach to building future scenarios is following:

1) purposing - establishing why scenarios are useful;

2) exploring - understanding the characteristics and logic of the scenario;

3) identifying implications - considering how the user would fare in the scenarios;

4) taking strategic action - returning to the present-day actions of the user organisation.

The climate crisis, the rapid development of artificial intelligence, increasing inequality and the polarization of society are cited as major challenges. These issues underpin the uncertain futures and, at the same time, offer opportunities for education to find appropriate solutions  and to identify the future it wants.

There are reports available on the global mega trends, which will influence education. OECD provides its scenarios for future schools. There are countries where future strategic foresight is the PhD program. And many sessions at this forum offered different approaches how to think about WHY? WHAT? And HOW?

What gaps do we want to fill using E3UDRES2 network? Current challenges and gaps are the key drivers for our joint strategy as it provides many opportunities and innovative ways for doing things jointly.

There is a clear dominance of technologies in discussions about education. Earlier the technologies were the branch of the education. Now they have become the core of education. And there is a claim that education should invest as much R&D in AI & pedagogy as companies are investing already in their priority areas.

One of the initial goals for participating in this forum was to understand whether the main goals of E3UDRES2's Future University team are in line with global trends and whether we haven’t missed something crucial. Examples provided at the UNESCO Forum demonstrated that E3UDRES2 Future University Think Tank has the place for both its main directions: 1) it is a place for policy and research analysis, internal discussions in various smaller groups or task forces  and finding answers in the context of E3UDRES2, and 2) for testing future methods, building E3UDRES2 future scenarios, and raising the capacity of E3UDRES2 team to be able to transfer and interpret visions of global education in aspects important to our regions.

Major Education Reforms in the Korean education system

During the forum Ministry of Education of the Republic Korea and Gyeonggido Office of Education (the largest region of Korea) presented nine major education reforms. The aim of the reforms is to provide personalised education for all and these reforms cover all the levels of education starting from the kindergarten up to the higher education, and includes also the transformation of the ministry of education itself. This is how Korea envisions that it can solve societal challenges with the power of education. The main key words for Gyeonggifo Office of Education are “autonomy”, “balance”, and “future”. You can find these guiding messages on all the materials provided by this office and they are present in all the visual communication.

The republic of Korea has started its reforms already in 2022, this year they have intensive training for teachers in order to equip with the necessary skills and competence to be a driver and co-assistant of knowledge in the new type of classroom. These reforms will conclude in 2028 when universities will have to adopt new admission which will be based on the outcomes of reforms in the previous education levels. What you can hear when you watch the recordings the 1^st day, December 2, 2024 of UNESCO forum, starting from 3h:50min (https://www.unesco.org/en/renewing-education-transform-future),  that Korea is ready to accept the AI text books, AI driven classroom, AI assisted teaching and AI guided learning analytics.

These examples show that there is no one simple and fast method how to implement the transformation of the education system. It is a very complex system and you need a holistic view at all the levels of education. Nothing substantial will change if you tackle only one small area of this system. You have to start from the first education program in kindergarten and see how the proposed changes transform the life-long and life-wide education.

In general, the majority of Korean reforms in relation to higher education are in line with E3UDRES2 mission and long-term vision: universities as the drivers of innovation ecosystems in the regions, global universities which are using global knowledge to solve local challenges, co-creation and co-ownership at the regional level. What is different it is the concrete plans with the deadlines and activities, brave use of new technologies where ever they fit, and alignment with reforms at other levels of education.

Future Wish for E³UDRES²

"We will need the entire worlds' creativity and intelligence to ensure that inclusion, equity, human rights, and peace define our future." (Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO)

No matter how complex and difficult it is sometimes to reconcile the different viewpoint of E3UDRES2 9 universities and agree on one joint solution, from the global perspective, it is not longer a question if we should continue this. This UNESCO forum has highlighted well that it is better sooner than later that E3UDRES2 has its own joint solutions if we want European higher education to be able to compete with other regions of the world.

My wish for E3UDRES2 would be to become an inspiring story to be shared at UNESCO Global Observatory, which was announced as the key forum outcome and will be active for next two years. Global Observatory will gather the insights on how to translate the vision of the future of education into practice. It will also provide the global network for those who are working with the foresight, anticipation and futures thinking.  E3UDRES2 and its achievements should be presented also at next UNESCO forum on the Futures of Education in 2026. E3UDRES2 has everything what is needed to be the example on how locally and democratically envision the future of our regions and translate and contextualize the future relationships with each other, with the planet, and with technology. Please find below a list of inspiring sources from this forum and E3UDRES2 Future University Think Tank.

 

Thanks to:

E3UDRES2: for the opportunity to find out about this UNESCO initiative and visit Suwon, Republic of Korea and UNESCO forum on Futures of Education

Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and Gyeonggido Office of Education: for the hospitality, well prepared and well organised forum and excellent site visits to Gyeonggido schools

UNESCO: for many insights into global trends and future opportunities of education

Latvian National Commission for UNESCO: for support in the preparation of this forum

Embassy of the Republic of Latvia to the Republic of Korea: for translating the context of this country into our European understanding

ViA and ViA UNESCO Chair “Biosfere and man”: for encouragement to participate in UNESCO events

 

Author of article:

Iveta Putniņa

Development vice-rector

E³UDRES² Site Coordinator at Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences

 

From October 14 to 18, Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences (ViA) hosted event "International Engagement Circus" (IEC) for the first time in this format, bringing together more than 70 students from nine E³UDRES² partner countries: Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Portugal, Romania and Austria to learn about digital hygiene issues, which was the main focus this time.

During the week, foreign guests visited such companies as SIA "Tet", "Mira Motion", and also met with representatives of the Ministry of Defense, getting to know digital hygiene practices in depth. Seven youth teams, together with their mentors, developed and presented ideas for tasks prepared by entrepreneurs.

Various seminars were also held, for example, lecturer Fransje Immink from the Saxion University of Applied Sciences (Netherlands) provided knowledge on how to promote creativity, unlock the mind and combine ideas, creating new and extraordinary solutions. Lecturer João Ferreira from Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal (Portugal) taught students how to sell or pitch an idea, while Kristaps Felzenbergs, director of the ViA study program "Cybersecurity Engineering", gave an insight into the impact of artificial intelligence, as well as introduced those interested to the most common tactics of cyber attackers.

Event organizer Kristaps Felzenbergs reveals: "In the beginning, the students were quiet and shy, then at the end of the week, everyone proactively shared their experience, opinion and gladly talked about the developed vision for solving challenges. It was a real pleasure to see how the students were actively involved in the discussions from the first day, as well as “poured over” the entrepreneurs with countless questions. This truly proves students activity, interest and curiosity to develop their knowledge and communication skills, ultimately gaining invaluable experience."

The purpose of IEC is to create an opportunity for students, educational entrepreneurs  and entrepreneurs not only to get to know each other, but also to solve current problems and develop innovative solutions together. Participants are taking part in interactive workshops and activities that promote collaboration and networking internationally.

The ViA team is happy to organize international events and attract cooperation partners from Latvia and abroad:

ViA says thank you:

Companies/organizations: Mira Motion Latvia, TET, Ministry of Defence

Educational Entrepreneurs: Agita Šmitiņa (ViA), Mihaela Crisan-Vida (UPT), Juuso Hassi (Jamk),  João Ferreira (IPS). Zoltan Gillay (MATE), Patrícia Macedo (IPS), Patrick Kochberger (STUPAS), Fransje Immink (Saxion), Anna Skruode (ViA)

Stakeholder: Pia Groß (HFD), Senouci Allam (HFD), Andrea Visztenvelt (MATE), Roger Heijmans (UCLL), Linda Krūmiņa (ViA),  Edmunds Plūmīte (SiA "Eddi"), Kristaps Purmalis (Mira Motion Latvia)

Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences is a part of the European Universities network  - E³UDRES² - which opens up wider opportunities for students, employees, as well as others interested to participate in international events, offer their own challenges or otherwise be a part of E³UDRES².

September 2024 edition of the E3UDRES2 Ent-r-e-novators newsletter, packed with updates on our latest achievements, key milestones, and upcoming events.

In the fourth edition of the project's news page, you can read about:

• Enhancing Citizen Engagement in Scientific Research: The WP5 results highlight our progress in fostering citizen involvement in science.
• Interview with Hannes Raffaseder: A deep dive into how collaboration has shaped the E³UDRES² project, bringing universities into the "Champions League" of innovation.
• Research for Everyone: Sarah De Coninck's vision of inclusivity in scientific research.
• Exciting Cluster Projects: Learn about CONNECT and Energytran, revolutionizing research collaboration and energy transition between Europe and Latin America.
• New Scientific Council: A significant step for academic excellence within the E³UDRES² alliance.

Current news of ViA colleagues:

PhD. Oskars Java, researcher at the Sociotechnical Systems Engineering Institute (SSII). The director of SSII led a focus group discussion within the doctoral school in August.

The focus group was organized to find out what, according to the students, are the most relevant research topics for society at the moment.

Briefly about the profiles of the participants:

All students have spent at least two years in their doctoral programs. Each of them specializes in different areas, but all are familiar with research and have experience in research projects in their specialty. All participants are somehow related to technology and use it in their respective fields.

Taking into account that the focus group was attended by seven doctoral students and applicants for a doctoral degree, in order to lead the discussion more successfully, the group was divided into two smaller groups for a moment.

The main finding is that both groups of doctoral students agreed that the three most important research directions at the moment are:

• Digitization
• Cyber ​​security
• Robotics and automation

Argumentation for digitization - jobs are digitized, automation replaces human work, increasing efficiency is vital in the modern world. It is necessary to adapt to rapid growth.

Argumentation for cyber security - society in general and the people who work with technical tools and data on a daily basis are still not in control of security-related activities.

Argumentation for robotics and automation - this term combines all the research areas mentioned by doctoral students during the focus group, such as artificial intelligence, data processing, precision agriculture, etc. On the one hand, it may seem that "robotics and automation" was placed above such previously mentioned research topics as environmental protection, human resource optimization and sustainability, however, "robotics and automation" also affects these topics in its own way, because production is made more efficient, products and adds value to services and relieves people from manual, man-hour-intensive work.

During September, focus groups will also be organized for ViA experienced researchers and students of the first bachelor's level, in order to be able to compare how the perception of what should be researched differs depending on the level of research experience and generation.

Currently, work on the unified E³UDRES² research strategy is very active.

----------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------

Dr.psych., Mg.math. In the work package led by Vineta Silkānes, the focus is currently on the preparation and submission of documents for the "HR Excellence in Research Award".

----------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------

Within the project E3UDRES2 Ent-r-e-novators On October 2nd, from 14:00 to 17:30 CET, UCLL Campus Diepenbeek will host an exciting workshop dedicated to advancing citizen science. This event will feature distinguished representatives from the European Citizen Science Association (ECSA), Scivil, and leading universities and applied sciences institutions across Flanders.

Register here!

Stay connected with Ent-r-e-novators for the latest updates, events, and insights into innovation and entrepreneurship. Follow us on social media and be part of our dynamic community!