Ulysseus presents its innovation ecosystem in an Open Event in Brussels

On 16 December, representatives of European institutions and members of Ulysseus met in Brussels to discuss the contribution of the European Universities initiative to the European Strategy for universities and the new European Innovation Agenda. To analyse these issues, Ulysseus organised two roundtables with specialists in the field. 

Roundtable “European Strategy for Universities and European New Innovation Agenda: contribution of the European Universities Initiative”   

During the first roundtable, EU and Higher Education Institutions (HEI) representatives discussed the contribution of the European Universities to the New European Innovation Agenda. This roundtable – moderated by Fulvio Mastrogiovanni, Vicerrector for Internationalization of the University of Genoa – was attended by: 

• Ioana Dewandeler, Policy Officer, Higher Education, Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture. 
• Stephane Berghmans, EUA Director of Research and Innovation 
• Jeanick Briswalter, Rector of the University of Université Cote d’Azur. 
• Siegfried Walch, Professor & Head of department for Nonprofits Social & Health Management at MCI – The Entrepreneurial Shool. 

The New European Innovation Agenda will help to address the most pressing societal challenges through the development of new technologies and will position Europe at the forefront of tech innovation. In this regard, speakers gave a general approach about the innovation potential of the European Universities in this New European Innovation Agenda and discussed the role of Ulysseus European University in the implementation of this Agenda.  

Roundtable “The role of Universities in Regional Innovation Ecosystems”

The second roundtable addressed the role of universities as boosters of regional Innovation Ecosystems within and beyond the European Union.  

This roundtable was facilitated by Koen Jonkers, representative of the Joint Research Center of the European Commission. 

Here, the panel of speakers discussed how HEI can accelerate and strengthen Innovation Ecosystems across the EU and contribute to reduce the innovation gap. The participants in this roundtable were:  

• Thomas Wobben, Director for Legislative Works at European Committee of the Regions. 
• Astrid Hannes, ERRIN Representative (European Regions Research and Innovation Network. 
• Ingrid Rigler, Deputy Head of Unit Innovation and EIT, Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture.  
• Miina Hiilos, Haaga Helia University of Applied Sciences Rector. 
• Peter Džupka, Head of the Department of Regional Science and Management, Faculty of Economics, Technical University of Košice (Slovakia). 
• Valentina Costa, Student of the University of Genoa (Italy).

Ulysseus alliance is growing

Representatives of the six partner universities (Miguel Ángel Castro, rector of the University of Seville; Federico Delfino, rector of the University of Genoa; Jeanick Brisswalter, rector of the Université Cotê D’Azur; the Technical University of Kosice; MCI | The Entrepreneurial School and Minna Hiilos, President of the Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences) welcomed the rectors of the new full partners that will join Ulysseus in the next proposal for the Erasmus+ 2023: Johannes Wessels, rector of the University of Münster, and Vladimir Božović, rector of the University of Montenegro.

About Ulysseus

Ulysseus is one of the 44 European Universities selected by the European Commission to become the universities of the future. Led by the University of Seville together with five other universities in Europe (the University of Genoa, Italy; Université Côte d’Azur, France; the Technical University of Košice, Slovakia; MCI | The Entrepreneurial School®, Austria; and Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences, Finland), the project will allow students, researchers and graduates to move freely between universities, carry out internships in companies and start high-impact research projects.