SHIINE Project network event
“Social Innovation and higher education institutions’ policy labs”
Thursday 3rd September, 10.00 – 12.00 BST
The aim of this session was to encourage a fruitful discussion among our network members and beyond.
Multi-disciplinary innovation for social change is the focus of attention of the EU research project SHIINE (COST-Action 18236). In its boundaries, quadruple helix innovation is the focus point of working group 4, which SCE/MUAS is dedicated to. The SHIINE initiative concerns topics of increasingly complex in a rapidly changing world, recognising that traditional disciplinary approaches to the framing and resolution of social and economic problems deliver ever diminishing returns. Discussions abound, therefore, about how best to educate and prepare graduates for the fresh challenges of the 21st century.
Knowledge Alliances between Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and enterprises which aim to foster innovation, entrepreneurship, creativity, employability, knowledge exchange and/or multidisciplinary teaching and learning are therefore becoming increasingly necessary and relevant. The challenge is to determine what we should teach in the future and how it should be taught. The changing nature of contemporary society highlights that social issues are often highly complex and multifaceted.
We had an interactive session with participants aiming at analysis of the state of the art and the role of the HEIs in Cost member countries in creating social change, transformation and impact. Four cases of labs were presented:
Greek case by Prof Panagiota Sergaki and Prof. A. Kontogeorgos
Finnish case by Dr. Harri Kostilainen
Romanian case by Prof. Carmen Păunescu
Polish case by Dr. Anna Wielicka and Dr.Paweł Krzyworzeka