Nowadays companies need higher educated engineers to develop their competences to enable them to innovate. This innovation competence is seen as a remedy for the minor profitable business they do during the financial crises. Innovation is an element to be developed on the one hand for big companies as well as for small-and-medium sized companies through Europe to overcome this crisis. The higher education can be seen as an institution where youngsters, coming from secondary schools, who choose to learn at higher education to realize their dream, what they like to become in the professional world. The tasks of the Universities of applied Sciences are to prepare these youngsters to become starting engineers doing their job well in the companies. Companies work for a market, trying to manufacture products which customers are willing to pay for. They ask competent employees helping achieving this goal. It is important these companies inform the Universities of applied Sciences in order to modify their educational program in such a way that the graduated engineers are learning the latest knowledge and techniques, which they need to know doing their job well. The Universities of applied Sciences of Oulu (Finland) and Fontys Eindhoven (The Netherlands) are working together to experience possibilities to qualify their students on innovation development in an international setting. In the so-called: ‘Invention Project’, students are motivated to find their own invention, to design it, to prepare this idea for prototyping and to really manufacture it. Organizing the project, special attention is given to communication protocol between students and also between teachers. Students have meetings on Thursday every week through Internet connection with the communication program OPTIMA, which is provided by the Oulu University. Not only the time difference between Finland and the Netherlands is an issue to be organized also effective protocols how to provide each other relevant information and also how to make in an effective way decisions are issues. In the paper the writers will present opinions of students, teachers and also companies in both regions of Oulu and Eindhoven on the effectiveness of this project reaching the goal students get more experienced to set up innovative projects in an international setting. The writers think this is an important and needed competence for nowadays young engineers to be able to create lucrative inventions for companies where they are going to work for. In the paper the writers also present the experiences of the supervising conditions during the project. The information found will lead to success-factors and do’s and don’ts for future projects with international collaboration.
KnowledgeFlows in Marine Spatial Planning - Sharing Innovation in Higher Education(KnowledgeFlows) aims at further enforcing the European higher education community to meet the growing demands for knowledge, skills and innovation within the still emerging field of marine or maritime spatial planning (MSP).Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) is an emerging governmental approach towards a more effective use of the sea. MSP is of great interest in Europe and can be considered a societal process to balance conflicting interests of maritime stakeholders and the marine environment. Many different activities take place at sea, ranging from shipping, fisheries, to offshore wind energy activities. Simultaneously, new and evolving policies focus on strategies to integrate different marine demands in space and resources. MSP is now legally binding in the EU and is much needed approach to manage and organize the use of the sea, while also protecting the environment.KnowledgeFlows will contribute to the development of new innovative approaches to higher education and training on MSP by means of problem-based learning schemes, transdisciplinary collaboration, and advanced e-learning concepts. KnowledgeFlows builds on results from former project outputs (Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership for Marine Spatial Planning SP-MSP), such as the online learning platform MSP Education Arena (https://www.sp-msp.uol.de).The strategic partnership consists of a transnational network of experts both in research and in practice based in the north Atlantic, Baltic Sea and North Sea Regions including Aalborg University (DK, lead partner), The University of Oldenburg (D), the University of Liverpool (U.K.), the University of Nantes (F), the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research (D), the Breda University of Applied Sciences (NL), University of Ulster (U.K.), and the Finnish Environment Institute (FI). Gothenburg University, also being a higher education organisation, will be associated partner.Furthermore, three international organisations, the Marine Spatial Planning Research Network, the Baltic inter-governmental VASAB and the pan-Nordic Nordregio will be involved in the partnership as associated organisations deeply rooted in the MSP community of practice.The further improvement of curricula, exchange of knowledge and experts, and transparency and recognition of learning outcomes to reach higher qualifications in MSP are key components of KnowledgeFlows. A mutual learning environment for MSP higher education will enable problem-driven innovation among students and their educators from research and governance also involving stakeholders. Related activities on intellectual outputs, multiplier events and lecturing will be carried out by all participating organisations.The intellectual outputs are related to three major contributions to the European higher education landscape:1) an advanced level international topical MSP course (Step-up MSP)2) digital learning facilities and tools (MSP Education Arena)3) designing problem-based learning in MSP (MSP directory)The advanced level inter-institutional topical MSP course will include different teaching and training activities within a problem-based learning environment. Digital learning facilities enabling communication and training will include a further enrichment of the MSP Education Arena platform for students, practitioners and lecturers for including modules forcollaborate learning activities, documentation and dissemination, mobilisation/recruitment, thesis opportunities, placements/internships. Designing problem-based learning in MSP will include topics as; the design of didactics and methods; guidance for lecturers, supervisors and students; evaluation and quality assurance; assessment.Five multiplier events back to back or as part of conferences within the MSP community will be organised to mainstream the outputs and innovative MSP didactics among other universities and institutions.Different teaching and training activities feeds into the intellectual output activities, which will include serious gaming sessions (MSP Challenge (http://www.mspchallenge.info/) and others), workshops, excursions, courses/classes as well as a conference with a specific focus on facilitating the exchange of innovative ideas and approaches among students at bachelor´s, master´s and doctoral level and the MSP community of practice.Project management meetings (twice a year) will assure coherence in project planning and implementation. As the core focus of the strategic partnership is on collaboration, mutual learning, and innovation among educators, students, and practitioners in order to meet actual and future needs regarding knowledge exchange and training within the MSP community, the project will be designed to have long lasting effects.Results
Cities across the globe are facing population ageing, which poses many unsolved challenges. Regional, national and European research strategies (including EU4Health) have a strong relation with healthy and active ageing, and stimulate the exchange of best practices to create age-inclusive societies across the continent. Over 1500 cities joined the Global Network for Age Friendly Cities and Communities of the World Health Organization (WHO), which follow a 5-year cycle of planning, implementation and evaluation in order to achieve goals. The Hague (2015) has been an active member of the Network. In the Western Balkans, only Tuzla (2023) is a member. Both the WHO and THUAS seek further expansion of their reach and want to build capacity in the Western Balkans, which is achieved through existing contacts with Mother Teresa University. The Institute for Social Activities in Skopje see THUAS’s age-friendly actions as a stepping stone for a better understanding of ageing well in their ethnically diverse city. Organisations in bordering countries have indicated their interest to join efforts during the annual Towards Sustainable Development Conference. They seek an extension to other countries of the Western Balkans that have previously largely been left out of the European research agenda. Therefore, The Age-friendly Balkans Connected Network seeks to (1) form regional knowledge and action eco-systems through capacity-building, and (2) provide cities with an instrument for a baseline assessment of their age-friendliness. For this purpose, we use the existing Age-Friendly Cities and Communities Questionnaire that was developed at THUAS in 2020 and which has been validated in Albanian and Macedonian. The Network trusts that new national ecosystems and tools can contribute to future age-friendly actions and European grant applications. In the words of Mother Teresa (born in Skopje): “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”
This research is a collaborative project between Water Future, Looop, and MNEXT to address the valorisation of a residual stream that remain after valorisation of whey towards food and feed applications: whey permeate. This permeate is a high-volume but low-quality stream, which is currently used as a filler for mainly animal feed, but with the large amounts produced in NW-Europe it is essential to valorise whey permeate higher in the value chain, for example into a biobased resource which replace fossil-based resources in the chemical industry. To accomplish this, pre-processing steps are necessary to remove minerals. Electrodialysis (ED) can remove unwanted minerals from whey permeate by applying an electric field across its membranes. Using ED, whey permeate is expected to demineralize into a liquid which is suitable for application as biobased resource for various applications. Moreover, the extracted mineral stream can also be reused. This one-year project aims to quantify and optimize the demineralisation of whey permeates using a lab-scale ED setup to make the whey permeate stream suitable for re-use and thus reduce the environmental impact of this stream. The project involves setting up an ED setup provided by Water Future to treat whey permeates supplied by Looop, assessing the suitability of treated permeate as a biobased resource in the chemical industry and processing the produced mineral streams into new biobased resources. The result of this research will demonstrate the use of ED as a valorisation technique for whey permeates and the integration of multiple processes into a valorisation pathway to transform costly whey permeates into value-added products. MNEXT leads the research development, aiming to potentially establish a recycle strategy for resource recovery in the dairy industry. The results will be presented through educational activities, reports, digital platforms, and conferences to transfer knowledge to a broader audience.
