HEInnovate Hits the Ground Running: A Busy Season of Conferences and Connections
From Lithuania to Scotland to Austria, September brought HEInnovate to three major European higher education gatherings, each offering a reminder of how much the community has to share.
EAIR 2026: Trust, Society and the HEInnovate Framework
📍 Vilnius University (Lithuania) | 26-28 August 2026
At the 48th EAIR Forum in Vilnius, HEInnovate hosted a workshop exploring how institutions can use the framework to strengthen their bonds with the communities they serve. Facilitated by the HEInnovate team and expert Vilma Purienė (Vilnius Gediminas Technical University), participants worked through scenario-based exercises centred on three fictional universities each facing a different trust challenge.
Vilma also shared VILNIUS TECH's own HEInnovate journey including two rounds of self-assessment, improvement across all eight dimensions, and a clear lesson: transformation requires continuous reflection, not a one-off exercise.
EAIE Glasgow 2026: Introducing HEInnovate and CEI to an International Audience
📍 Glasgow (Scotland, UK) | 8-11 September 2026
At the EAIE Conference in Glasgow, HEInnovate appeared alongside the Community for Educational Innovation (CEI) at the European Commission stand, the first time the two initiatives have been presented together at EAIE. Mini sessions, brochures and four days of stand conversations introduced both initiatives to a broad international audience.
At EAIE, the most powerful moment was the simplest: sharing real stories from real institutions. Hearing how universities use HEInnovate in practice resonated far more than any description of the framework itself.
Focus on the Future Summit: From Ecosystem to Action
📍 European Campus Hainburg (Austria) | 14-17 September 2026
The Focus on the Future Summit in Hainburg an der Donau was hosted by the E³UDRES² and EULiST European University alliances, who are jointly working to launch the Europacampus Hainburg. HEInnovate closed a full day of discussions on university-industry collaboration with an Open Ideas Lab session bringing together participants from across these and other European University alliances.
Working directly from their own institutional experience, participants completed a live mini self-assessment and used the Action Cards to map current practices and design future actions around entrepreneurship support and ecosystem connections. The discussion generated rich feedback both for participants and the HEInnovate team, who had the opportunity to jointly reflect on how the tool can better support higher education institutions and alliances.
Three events, three formats, one community growing stronger across Europe.
Interested in bringing an HEInnovate workshop to your institution or event? Get in touch. Stay tuned for what comes next — explore upcoming events.