Topic based workshops Annual Conference 2025

Co-creating engaged research with local communities

Room 15:221 

What role can community groups, industry professionals, practitioners and/or citizens play in planning a research proposal with academic researchers? In this workshop we will briefly explore some of the underpinning literature on engaged and equitable approaches to research, but focus on practices and materials from a project where community groups sought to inform a research proposal to explore carbon stewardship in their local environment.

Moderator: Richard Holliman

Innovating Together: Building Regional Futures through Quadruple Helix Collaboration

Room 15:222

This interactive workshop invites participants from academia, industry, government, and civil society to co-create pathways for regional innovation and smart specialisation. Through collaborative dialogue and hands-on activities, we will explore how Quadruple Helix partnerships can foster knowledge transfer, strengthen regional ecosystems, and build sustainable futures across Europe.

Moderator: Manuel Esteban Luca Borja

Impact Entrepreneurship

Room 15:225

This 90-minute interactive workshop explores how impact-driven entrepreneurship can move beyond purpose statements toward measurable, systemic change. Participants will experiment with practical tools such as the Lean Startup and Design Thinking method how to design ventures that create positive social and environmental outcomes. Combining short impulses, peer exchange, and creative exercises, the session invites educators, researchers, and practitioners to rethink how we teach and practice entrepreneurship for the common good.

Moderators: Kim Determann and Sumaya Islam

CoHub presentation

Room 15:321

CoHub is the alliance’s collaborative platform that connects students, staff, and partners across institutions. In this session, we’ll show how CoHub streamlines cross-campus work: course discovery, community spaces, event coordination, and stakeholder co-creation. We will demo typical use-cases (WP collaboration, community posts), explain the governance behind the platform, and gather feedback on needed features. Participants will leave knowing what CoHub is for, how to use it in daily work, and how it advances our alliance goals.

Moderator: Milos Borozan

EDI workshop

Room 15:226 

This EDI workshop focuses on how COLOURS will actively integrate Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion into its core activities through challenge-based education and collaboration across the Quadruple Helix.

Moderators: Martin Persson & Zorica Grubor

Making Good HOPs (Hands On Projects) happen

Room 15:227 

A workshop starting with examples of successful implementations of Hands On Projects and the processes which made them happen, then moving on to group discussions about national challenges and possibilities where we find ways to move forwards together through new collaborations.

Moderator: Julius Soutine

BIPs – what are they, and how do we organize them?

Room 15:319 
For those interested in exchanging experiences and knowledge on this topic, we will gather for an open discussion. Some of us have already carried out several of these, while others are eager to learn how they are created and what is required to make them a reality.

Moderators: Everyone in the room.

Innovate higher education teaching practices through SoTL with a design thinking approach

Room 15:326

Proposal of a joint course for university teachers within COLOURS to develop from challenges in their teaching practice.

- Explore and share innovative, research-informed approaches to teaching and learning.

- Combine Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) with Design Thinking (DT).

- Identify, analyze, and solve real teaching & learning challenges through creativity and collaboration

Moderator: Maria Melén