MaKe a real
impact

SOLVE ECIU UNIVERSITY CHALLENGES

For the upcoming spring semester, we invite students to join multidisciplinary and international teams at the ECIU University and solve challenges, provided by business and societal partners across Europe. You will have an opportunity to tackle local, national and global problems with a challenge-based approach.

Any questions regarding participation in the challenges?
Please write to us: challenges@eciu.org
 Explore the ECIU University challenges here

WAYS TO PARTCIPATE:

The core of the ECIU University is the challenge-based approach – a model where learners, teachers and researchers cooperate with business and society to solve real-life challenges.

How it works:

1
The challenge is provided by a city, region or business stakeholder and is entered onto
the ECIU University Challenge platform.
2
Learner registers to the challenge she or he finds relevant.
3
 A team is formed from registered participants and a team facilitator is assigned.
4
The team works with the challenge provider (and other participants), engages and investigates the challenge, and proposes solutions using the challenge-based learning methodology.
5
During the process, the team can select relevant micro-modules from ECIU member universities that help them gain additional knowledge or skills that are needed to solve the challenge.
6
At the end of the process, the learner can achieve a certain amount of academic credits, or a certificate that will record their new skills gained during their challenge-learning process.
7
Finally, teams deliver their outputs – which may include services, products, research questions, start-ups and spin-offs.
Explore ECIU University challenges

REQUIREMENTS FOR STUDENT TO JOIN THE ECIU UNIVERSITY CHALLENGES

  • Studies in one of the 12 ECIU University member institutions.
  • Enrolment in a master’s degree programme or final year of a bachelor’s degree programme.
  • Completed 120 ECTS of higher education studies at undergraduate level.  
  • English language proficiency: B2 (Self-assessment, CEFR of languages).
  • OPTIONAL REQUIREMENT: Experience with entrepreneurial work.

Why participate?

Real Impact

Participation in challenges will allow learners to make a real impact in the community, city or region by solving real-time challenges.

New skills

Learners will develop problem-solving and team-work skills and knowledge, and take micro-modules. 

Inter-cultural environment

Working in multi-disciplinary and/or international teams, learners will build up their inter-cultural competences and increase their network of expertise.

Co-creation

Learners will get an opportunity to experience and experiment with a new way of learning, and in doing so, help to co-create the ECIU University: the new way for education on the European scale.

CHALLENGE SOLVING CYCLE

At the ECIU University learners, teachers, researchers, representatives of businesses and public organisations - join forces across a variety of disciplines to solve real-life problems.

The challenges are provided by a city, region or business stakeholder of the ECIU University. Then each member university selects several challenges from their region, city or community and invites learners and students to explore the challenges and register for joining the challenge-solving team.
The ECIU University’s challenge-based learning approach follows a specific structure consisting of three main steps: engage, investigate and act.

Engagement: The basis for motivation is to be working on a ‘Big Idea’. This might be anything within a social, economic, or environmental theme such as health or public transportation. All the participants, teachers, students and external partners make sure that they agree on the final challenge to work on.

Investigation: All the team need to ensure that they all understand the challenge and can contribute towards solving it with their knowledge and skills. 

Action: partners can use their shared knowledge to design and prototype new solutions. The implementation of the prototype and the evaluation are steps in the action part.

Explore and join the challenges!

Micro Modules

At the ECIU University we are piloting ways of re-designing traditional study programmes  at universities and to smaller micro-modules. These micro-modules are offered by the ECIU partner universities, and can take from several days to several months to complete. They will also vary in what they are worth within the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS).

In addition to this, the micro-modules will enable students to learn more about regional and international societal issues related to different aspects of making cities and regions sustainable and therefore addressing the UN Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG 11), as well as learn foreign languages.

How does it work?
While working on the challenge, the participants may find out that they lack certain knowledge or skills to solve the challenge. They will be given an opportunity to participate in micro-modules related to the challenge they are working on.  


Explore micro-modules

Exchange and Mobility

MOBILITY MINOR

The ECIU Minor programme allow groups or individual learners to spend a semester at a likeminded ECIU partner university. Learners can choose their host university themselves, as each of the partners offers different courses and specialisations completely in English. The ECIU Minor programme is a fixed set of preapproved courses of 30 ECTS. They fit into the curriculum set of courses at the home institution. Credits will be fully recognised.
Learn more

SUMMER SCHOOLS

Are you looking for an inspiring way to spend your summer? The ECIU Summer Schools offer you a number of high-quality courses to choose from.
Learn more

Featured News & Events

All
Learners
Business & Society
University Staff
Researchers
EU Affairs
See all news