HEInnovate in Bratislava: Transforming Self-Assessment into Action Plans

📍 25 June 2026 | Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia 

HEInnovate brought 22 higher education professionals from 11 Slovak universities together in Bratislava for a day that was anything but theoretical, rolling up their sleeves to turn self-assessment results into concrete institutional action plans. The day provided a collaborative space for institutions to reflect on their entrepreneurial and innovation capacity, exchange experiences and identify next steps. 

The session is part of a three-part workshop series embedded in the Slovak national project "Support for Entrepreneurial and Innovation Potential of Students" (ITMS21+ code of the project: 401101C937), co-financed by the European Union under Programme Slovakia and implemented by the Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth of the Slovak Republic. 

After having an online kick-off in April, this on-site workshop built directly on the group self-assessments each institution had completed and submitted ahead of time, using the results to shape peer learning and guide institutions toward concrete next steps. 

From shared reflection to shared learning 

The event commenced with a “Results Gallery”: with posters displaying each institution's radar chart placed around the room, participants conducted a silent gallery walk and made use of post-its to flag strengths, weaknesses, what they wanted to learn more about, and challenges they recognised across institutions.  

Participants then moved into the “Bright Spots and Dimension Deep Dives” session: with each HEI sharing a practice it considered promising in its own context, and then discussing selected HEInnovate dimensions where institutions wanted to explore challenges further. Structured around understanding scores, identifying external barriers, and gathering ideas from peers, these discussions helped institutions see their results in a wider context before selecting their priorities for the afternoon. 

Turning insights into action 

Each institutional team used the HEInnovate Action Planning Board to translate its chosen priority dimension(s) into a concrete plan. Teams working on related dimensions were grouped for peer feedback, presenting their draft plans to one another and refining their thinking based on input from institutions facing similar challenges. 

The day closed with the Work Package Planning Board, an exercise where each team clustered its activities into two to four work packages, assigning tentative leads, stakeholders and timelines, and flagging where cross-institutional collaboration could add value. In the closing plenary, teams presented their action plans, and facilitators highlighted common themes and opportunities for institutions to collaborate going forward. 

As the participating HEIs are still early in the national project, Workshop II gave them a structured way to analyse their institutions and set priorities. A final online follow-up, Workshop III, is planned for the end of the project to reflect on lessons learned. 

➡️ Stay tuned for upcoming HEInnovate events and opportunities. 

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