Ecorys continues to support DG EAC to provide University-Business Cooperation
Client: European Commission | Sectors: Social PolicyThe Ecorys Policy & Research team has been commissioned (2022-2024) to provide expertise and support services to the European Commission’s Directorate General for Education, Youth, Sport, and Culture (DG EAC), in the areas of innovation and University-Business Cooperation (UBC).
UBC activities involves collaboration between higher education institutions and enterprises across the EU borders, regions, and sectors, with the aim of accelerating innovation, improving the creativity and employability of students, and help solving urgent societal challenges. Through these activities, UBC contributes to the EU strategic priorities and forms a vital part of DG EAC policy in Higher Education, including the current European Strategy for Universities, and the new European Innovation Agenda.
Together, Ecorys and consortium partners, provide expert support to UBC, applying understanding of the policy framework to reflect and consider current challenges, key future trends, opportunities and other factors influencing UBC. In particular, the work highlights issues and questions posed to stakeholders to productively advance debate in the field of university-business cooperation.
During the previous phase of UBC (2018-22), the main activities were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic as physical events were cancelled and a series of reflection and case study papers were developed to explore the social, technological, and economic impacts for UBC, particularly in the context of the pandemic. Ecorys supported the transition of the UBC community online platform to MSTeams to build and facilitate reflection and dialogue among the UBC network. The platform on MSTeams is now fully operational, with over 400 members, and continues to grow as hybrid ways of working become the new norm. Please see this info sheet for more information.
All the documents and resources can be found on the MSTeams platform, including meeting reports, reflection papers, case study papers, etc. A selection is:
Reflection papers Series
Events
The most recent hybrid University Business Forum took place in Italy in 2022. The meeting report can be accessed here.
Case Study
All case studies were compiled into the UBC Case Study Catalogue that can be accessed here.
For more information about this case study, please contact [email protected].