Aeres University of Applied Sciences has placed internationalisation as a key driver in its overall strategy. By prioritising the internationalisation of education and educational consultancy the university has created solid opportunities for students, lecturers, and partners at regional, national, and international levels. Currently, more strategic development on internationalisation in applied research at Aeres is needed. There is an opportunity to utilise highly proficient researchers, state-of-the-art facilities, and an impressive national research portfolio, and for this, there is a need to develop international research agenda, a key priority for AeresResearch4EU. To address this need, Aeres University of Applied Sciences aims to strengthen its internationalisation efforts with its research activities, opening the door to many opportunities, and most importantly, creating an international research agenda spanning the university's three locations. The main objectives of AeresResearch4EU are to analyse the existing research strategy and professorships and develop them towards a global research agenda for the European Union. By focusing on international research projects, Aeres can further enhance its reputation as a leading institution for applied research in agriculture, food, environment, and green technologies. AeresResearch4EU aims to create new partnerships and collaborations with researchers and institutions across Europe, allowing Aeres to contribute to developing innovative and sustainable solutions to global challenges. With its strong commitment to internationalisation and its focus on applied research, Aeres University of Applied Sciences is poised to become an essential player in the European research landscape.
Sinds de ondertekening van CDKM zijn er in Nijmegen mooie resultaten geboekt wanneer het gaat om het betrekken van docenten, studenten en onderzoekers bij bijdragen aan maatschappelijke vraagstukken in de stad Nijmegen. Er is veel geëxperimenteerd en geleerd, en een goede basis gelegd voor intensieve samenwerking. Tegelijkertijd is het ook duidelijk geworden dat deze samenwerking complex is, afstemming vraagt op meerdere niveaus binnen en tussen organisaties, en overbrugging vraagt van organisatiestructuren en onderwijssystemen. In 2022 hebben we als consortium gewerkt aan het opstellen van implementatieplannen om een antwoord te vinden op ervaren uitdagingen. Elke instelling heeft gewerkt aan een eigen implementatieplan specifiek gericht op de eigen uitdagingen en vraagstukken. Daarnaast hebben we een gezamenlijk implementatieplan voor het consortium opgesteld om zo richting te geven aan onze gezamenlijke langetermijnambitie. Deze trajecten hebben er voor gezorgd dat we de komende jaren als consortium met meer richting, focus, bestuurlijke commitment kunnen voortbouwen aan het bereiken van onze ambitie. De komende drie jaar staan in het teken van het uitvoeren van de opgestelde implementatieplannen. We gaan de werkwijze waarmee kennisinstellingen en gemeente interdisciplinair en/of multi-level werken aan maatschappelijke thema’s in de stad opschalen. We gaan dit doen op de volgende manier: 1. Meerjarige grote projecten (multilevel) – De inhoudelijke focus ligt op de twee inhoudelijke programmalijnen vanuit gemeente Nijmegen (langdurig, duurzaam ingebed), waarop kennisinstellingen aansluiten in onderwijsprojecten. 2. Kortlopende, actuele vraagstukken - Verbinden van kennisvragen en aanbod tussen gemeente en kennisinstellingen. Kortlopende vraagstukken waar ‘energie zit’ en waar snel op ingezet kan worden. 3. Kennisdeling en communityvorming - We werken zowel aan kennisdeling als aan communityvorming onder de paraplu van ‘Nijmegen Studiestad’. 4. Instellingen werken aan de doelstellingen van eigen implementatieplannen – Elke consortiumpartner werkt aan randvoorwaarden voor het werken aan maatschappelijke opgaven in het onderwijs. Voor elke instelling gelden hierbij andere aandachtspunten.
Collaborative networks for sustainability are emerging rapidly to address urgent societal challenges. By bringing together organizations with different knowledge bases, resources and capabilities, collaborative networks enhance information exchange, knowledge sharing and learning opportunities to address these complex problems that cannot be solved by organizations individually. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the apparel sector, where examples of collaborative networks for sustainability are plenty, for example Sustainable Apparel Coalition, Zero Discharge Hazardous Chemicals, and the Fair Wear Foundation. Companies like C&A and H&M but also smaller players join these networks to take their social responsibility. Collaborative networks are unlike traditional forms of organizations; they are loosely structured collectives of different, often competing organizations, with dynamic membership and usually lack legal status. However, they do not emerge or organize on their own; they need network orchestrators who manage the network in terms of activities and participants. But network orchestrators face many challenges. They have to balance the interests of diverse companies and deal with tensions that often arise between them, like sharing their innovative knowledge. Orchestrators also have to “sell” the value of the network to potential new participants, who make decisions about which networks to join based on the benefits they expect to get from participating. Network orchestrators often do not know the best way to maintain engagement, commitment and enthusiasm or how to ensure knowledge and resource sharing, especially when competitors are involved. Furthermore, collaborative networks receive funding from grants or subsidies, creating financial uncertainty about its continuity. Raising financing from the private sector is difficult and network orchestrators compete more and more for resources. When networks dissolve or dysfunction (due to a lack of value creation and capture for participants, a lack of financing or a non-functioning business model), the collective value that has been created and accrued over time may be lost. This is problematic given that industrial transformations towards sustainability take many years and durable organizational forms are required to ensure ongoing support for this change. Network orchestration is a new profession. There are no guidelines, handbooks or good practices for how to perform this role, nor is there professional education or a professional association that represents network orchestrators. This is urgently needed as network orchestrators struggle with their role in governing networks so that they create and capture value for participants and ultimately ensure better network performance and survival. This project aims to foster the professionalization of the network orchestrator role by: (a) generating knowledge, developing and testing collaborative network governance models, facilitation tools and collaborative business modeling tools to enable network orchestrators to improve the performance of collaborative networks in terms of collective value creation (network level) and private value capture (network participant level) (b) organizing platform activities for network orchestrators to exchange ideas, best practices and learn from each other, thereby facilitating the formation of a professional identity, standards and community of network orchestrators.
