Shaping the Future of HEInnovate: the Expert Group Convenes in Brussels

📍7 May 2026 | DG EAC, European Commission, Brussels, Belgium

The HEInnovate Expert Group held its third meeting on 7 May 2026 at DG EAC in Brussels, bringing together experts in higher education, innovation and entrepreneurship from across Europe to review recent developments and shape the future direction of HEInnovate.

The meeting opened with welcome speeches from Luca Perego, Head of Unit at DG EAC (Unit C1 "Innovation and EIT"), and Jonathan Potter from the OECD (Head of the Entrepreneurship Policy and Analysis Unit), both of whom reflected on the strategic importance of HEInnovate within the European policy agenda. Luca underlined the European Commission's strong focus on competitiveness and closing Europe's innovation gap through education, entrepreneurial learning, and institutional reflection, priorities at the heart of initiatives such as the Union of Skills. Jonathan reflected on the origins and evolution of HEInnovate over the past decade, reaffirming the OECD's commitment to supporting the entrepreneurial and innovative university model across higher education systems worldwide.

Platform developments and user insights

The meeting opened with an overview of recent platform updates, including a new benchmarking feature allowing institutions to compare results against peers, and a response distribution visualisation to support internal reflection. A suite of new support resources was also presented, developed with direct Expert Group input, including a Stakeholder Engagement Toolkit, a Quick Start Guide, and a dedicated guide for European Universities Alliances. User feedback from over 430 post-assessment survey responses confirmed that most users find HEInnovate meets their needs, while pointing to opportunities to further strengthen clarity and intuitiveness.

Refining the framework

A significant part of the day was dedicated to reviewing proposed changes to HEInnovate's self-assessment statements. Discussions confirmed the proposed updates are clearer and better aligned with current priorities, including sustainability, inclusion, responsible AI, and European cooperation, all while maintaining continuity for longitudinal comparison. The HEInnovate team will now consolidate feedback before submission to the European Commission.

Expert presentations and looking ahead

One of the distinctive strengths of the HEInnovate Expert Group is the opportunity it creates for collective reflection and continuous improvement. In a dedicated session, Expert Group members shared experiences and insights from a range of HEInnovate activities over the past year, feeding directly into how the platform, its events, and its resources continue to evolve. 

Mona Roman presented the Train the Trainers workshop in Helsinki; Marina Ranga and Hannes Raffaseder reflected on the two CEI Study Visits in Barcelona and St. Pölten; Bart Derre shared insights from the CEI webinar series; María José Herrero Villa presented reflections from an institutional workshop in Catalonia and an expert standing session; and Ana Cristina Nicolescu shared feedback from the online information sessions. Peer learning and interactive formats consistently emerged as key strengths across all activities.

Looking ahead, upcoming activities include an expert standing session in September, an information session in October, and a series of webinars on lifelong learning. A new Expert Working Group was also announced, focused on revising the HEInnovate Action Cards.

Closing remarks from the European Commission confirmed HEInnovate's growing integration within European higher education policy, with the initiative already embedded in the next Erasmus+ programme cycle.

🤝 Who’s in the group? Discover the expert profiles. 

📸  Explore the photo album on Flickr 

➡️ Stay tuned for upcoming events and opportunities.

🟢 Share your experience with us: tag #BeAnHEInnovator.