HEInnovate has been running a webinar series since early 2020. The webinar series that first emerged as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic to help representatives of higher education institutions to discuss relevant topics, developed into a monthly event series attended by a highly international audience. The webinars explore the features of entrepreneurial and innovative higher education from different angles, for example by discussing the role and impact of student entrepreneurship, social innovation, or digital transformation just to name a few. International experts, policymakers, funders as well as students present their projects and programmes and share their experiences in panel discussions with the audience.

The first webinar in 2022 will continue this tradition, but it is organised as an event as part of the Conference on the Future of Europe (https://futureu.europa.eu/?locale=en). The Conference provides the opportunity for European citizens to debate on Europe’s challenges and priorities and to put forward recommendations. Everyone is welcome to join the debate and express their opinion upon registering on the official platform of the Conference.

The HEInnovate webinar will be held on the 27th January 2022 at 5pm CET. The webinar will address the contribution higher education can make to shaping the future of Europe from different perspectives within the higher education community. The webinar will be moderated by Rebecca Allinson, Managing Partner at Technopolis Group and engages four experts in discussion:

• Dr John Edwards, the Secretary General of EURASHE, the European Association representing Professional Higher Education Institutions. He has specific expertise on the role of HEIs in economic development and innovation. Between 2011-2020 he worked for the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, managing its work on higher education and VET in Smart Specialisation. In addition to his duties as EURASHE Secretary General he is also coordinating the Erasmus+ UASiMAP project to assess the regional contribution of Universities of Applied Science
• Dr Ruaidhri Neavyn, a Special Adviser on Higher Education Policy Development with the Higher Education Authority (HEA) in Ireland. His activities in higher education (HE) policy development have included enterprise engagement activities, industry linked HE programmes, HE system performance frameworks and international collaborative networks. Prior to his appointment as an adviser to the HEA Ruaidhri served as president of two institutes of technology in Ireland. He has been an expert advisor for the OECD and EU on numerous international HE reviews and is currently a member of the Portuguese Higher Education Advisory Council and the Chair of the OECD’s group of national experts on higher education. He is one of the founders of the Regional University Network-European University and is a member of its management and co-ordination council
• Adina Fodor Ph.D., Head of the Office for Interuniversity Agreements, Babeș-Bolyai University, Romania, has been active in delivering workshops on the HEInnovate self-assessment tool to universities in Europe and Africa. She has participated in several projects dedicated to exploring the entrepreneurial potential, bolstering institutional development through cooperation, and widening participation in higher education.  She is also a member of the executive committee of the SGroup – Universities in Europe network – where she mainly concentrates on international projects and the social mission of universities
• Anca del Rio, EIT Alumni President is a purpose-driven, international healthcare expert and public health specialist, and an experienced catalyst and community builder in the innovation ecosystem. In her presidential role with the EIT Alumni, Anca is committed and driven to foster a greener, healthier, inclusive and digitally enabled Europe by leading, inspiring and representing the Network of Networks of over 14.000 young innovators and entrepreneurs, from all EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs). She is in charge of the strategic steering of the network towards financial sustainability and global development by strengthening a culture of growth, excellence, impact and collaboration across EIT's European and global network