Strengthening Universities, Empowering Regions
As sister projects under Horizon Europe, Accelerate Future HEI, aUPaEU and CATALISI share a common ambition: to accelerate the institutional transformation of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), empowering them to become central actors in Europe’s research and innovation ecosystems.
That’s why we’re excited about the upcoming online Interreg workshop, Connecting Regions, Empowering Universities through Stronger R&I Policies on 2 October 2025. Hosted by the Policy Learning Platform and UIIN, it will focus on connecting regional policymakers with university leaders, creating a vital dialogue on how strong R&I policies can unlock the full potential of HEIs as drivers of societal change.
Funded under the same HORIZON-WIDERA-2022-ERA-01-51 call, our three projects approach university transformation from different angles, but we converge on the same vision to support systematic transformation in European Higher Education Institutions. Together, we see this workshop as an opportunity to strengthen the bridge between local policy frameworks and European transformation pathways. We believe that when we empower universities, we also empower local communities (or ecosystems) and shape a stronger future for these regions throughout Europe.
We’re looking forward to:
- Policy–Practice Dialogue: Understanding how regional strategies can directly support institutional transformation.
- Best Practices Across Europe: Learning from other ecosystems that have successfully aligned HEIs with innovation agendas.
- Synergies with WIDERA & ERA: Exploring how our Horizon Europe projects can complement regional policy frameworks.
- Community Building: Expanding our networks with policymakers, universities, and regional innovation stakeholders.
If you are a policy officer, university manager, academic leader, or a regional development professional, this workshop will help you explore how universities and regions can co-create innovation strategies, offer practical examples of accelerating institutional change and the opportunity to connect with our three partner networks.
Join us on 2 October 2025 and be part of the conversation.
