Focus on the Future -
The Summit for Building Bridges and Thinking Ahead

12:00 CET | Registration, Meet, Greet & Connect

12:15 CET | Walk & Talk – Exploring Drosendorf (optional)
Walk around the old town of Drosendorf guided by Leopold Kögler-Vencour

13:15 CET | Opening and Introduction   

13:30 CET | Focus on the future but be aware of the history!

Local Pulse, Global Waves! – What could be learned from Drosendorf in 1278?
Leopold Kögler-Vencour, St. Pölten UAS

How to Not Get Lost in The Future: Lessons from History
Gatis Krūmiņš, Vidzeme UAS / E³UDRES²

14:15 CET | Towards a Learner-Centered & Opportunity-Driven Society

Digital Humanism, the (Trans-)Formation of Democracy and the Relevance of Arts (Education)
Ruth Mateus-Berr, University of Applied Arts Vienna

AI is making us stupid!?
Gabriele Permoser, E³UDRES² / St. Pölten AUS

Creative Computing – A Case-Study of Good Practice
Markus Seidl, St. Pölten UAS

15:30 CET | Open Ideas-Lab for Building Bridges and Thinking Ahead (Part I)
WHO learns & who teaches, who researches, innovates and collaborates?
WHO shapes a learner-driven, opportunity-centered society?

Guiding Questions:
Who are the learners of today and tomorrow? Who supports inclusive and diverse learning environments? Who is driving life-long-learning and who are adult learners? Who enables people to unfold talents? Who is (afraid of) Dr. Google and Professor ChatGPT?

Who is driving and who is regulating the role of Artificial Intelligence in (higher) education? Who are the educators, researchers, innovators? Who is inspiring, empowering, promoting (academic) careers? Who is pursuing an (academic) career and who is succeeding? Who is (co-)creating future universities and innovative learning environments? Who is orchestrating and further developing (regional) innovation ecosystems and (trans-)national collaboration?

16:45 CET | Summary & Conclusions

18:30 CET | Dinner & Workshop

landuni Drosendorf
Kerstin Schmid, TU Wien, Koordinatorin landuni Drosendorf

Rethinking the Village Inn – An Evening of Research, Community & Futures
Facilitator: Michaela Moser & Sibylle Moser, St. Pölten UAS

09:00 CET | Meet, Greet & Connect
09:15 CET | Bridging Gaps in (Higher) Education

(Professional) Skills & (Scientific) Competences – Advancing Dual (Higher) Education
Marlene Cermak, St. Pölten UAS

Professional competences of older employees in the context of demographic and technological change
Alexander Willim, PU Schloss Seeburg & St. Pölten AUS

10:00 CET | OPEN IDEAS LAB for Building Bridges and Thinking Ahead (Part II)

WHAT do we (have to) learn, research, innovate, co-create?

What makes exemplary curricula for a learner-driven and opportunity-centered society?

Guiding Questions:

What are the competences and skills needed today and for the future? What is changing in a rapidly evolving world of wars, conflicts and crises? What is creativity, agility, flexibility, adaptability, future skills … and (how) can you learn and teach them? What is necessary to enable, empower, strengthen societal and economic impact of (higher) education? What are intercultural, interdisciplinary, inter… skills and competences? What is needed for cross-generation, cross-disciplinary, cross-…, transnational collaboration? What does it mean and what does it need to act regionally rooted and globally connected?

What has changed in the age of digital transformation and AI? What is the (desired) role of AI in a learner-driven and opportunity-centered society? What is human-centered learning and how does it differ from machine learning? What is the future of STE(A)M education? What is the (desired) role of the humanities?

11:00 CET | OPEN IDEAS LAB (Part II) – Summary & Conclusions

11:45 CET | Mindsets, Leadership & Collaboration in (Future) Higher Education

The Future of Higher Education is Relational, Not Informational
Lisa David, St. Pölten UAS

The Future of Leadership & Conflict Resolution – Key Competences for transnational collaboration 
Katalin Szondy, University of Continuous Education Krems

12:30 CET | Lunch

14:00 CET | European Universities Alliances – Good Practice

The E³UDRES² Talent Funnel
Roger Heijmans, E³UDRES² / UCLL

The RUN-EU digital platform
Marijana Milosevic, RUN-EU / Vorarlberg UAS

14:45 CET | Impact of European Universities Alliances & Transnational Collaborations

Roundtable with Austrian members of European Universities Alliances:

Chris Schubert (EULIST, TUW), Sara Repo (ULYSSEUS, MCI), Katalin Szondy (ACE-EU), Maja Dragan (EU4DUAL, FH Joanneum), Julia Marinaccio (ACE²-EU, CUAS), Pusa Nastase (CIVICA, CEU), Marijana Milosevic (RUN-EU, FHV), Michael Friedrich (EURECA-PRO, Montanuniversität Leoben), Michal Karpisek (E³UDRES²)

16:00 CET | OPEN IDEAS LAB for Building Bridges and Thinking Ahead (Part III)

IMAGINE fully-fledged European Universities – Dreams, Ideas, Opportunities, Visions & Strategies,…

HOW to implement (fully-fledged) European Universities to secure European values, strengthen European competitiveness, re-shape higher education, empower research and innovation?

Guiding Questions:

What makes a fully-fledged European University? How can European Universities uphold and ensure European values? What has been reached so far within the European Universities Initiative? Are European Universities excellent? (How) can Universities be excellent?  (How) can European Universities succeed in a global competition of higher education, research and innovation? (Why) are European Universities performing better than national institutions? What impact and added-values are necessary to succeed beyond current national higher-education institutions and well-established activities for trans-national collaboration?  (How) are European Universities strengthening European competitiveness (today and in the future)? (Why) are European Degrees re-shaping higher education? (How) can European Universities link excellence and inclusion and empower diversity? (How) can European Universities bridge gaps between regions, between science and society, universities and industries…? (How) can European Universities orchestrate (regional) innovation ecosystems and (European) networks? (How) can collaboration across Europe be managed?

17:15 CET | OPEN IDEAS LAB (Part III) – Summary & Conclusions

18:30 CET | Dinner 

09:00 CET | Meet, Greet & Connect

09:15 CET | Future Learning Environments, Networks and (Cross-Boarder) Collaboration  

Supporting Cross-Border Learning & Collaboration: The Higher Education Interoperability Framework
Colin Tück, Knowledge & Innovation Center

(Future) Environments for a Learner-Centered and Opportunity-Driven Society
Hannes Raffaseder (E³UDRES², St. Pölten UAS)

10:00 CET | Impact-Driven Academics

Impact-Driven Academics and the Advancement of Research Assessment
Giuliana Sabbatini (E³UDRES², St. Pölten UAS)

How to build relevance and impact from regional through to European levels
Vanessa Leung (E³UDRES², St. Pölten UAS)

11:00 CET | OPEN IDEAS LAB for Building Bridges and Thinking Ahead (Part IV)
IMAGINE (future) universities to promote a learner-centered and opportunity-driven society

HOW, WHERE & WHEN do we (have to) teach, learn, research, innovate and collaborate?

Guiding Questions:

How and with which methods and tools do we successfully learn, teach, research, innovate, and collaborate? How can we build bridges between education, research, innovation, and application? How can we break down silos between disciplines, institutions, industries…? How do we connect short-term economic demands with long-term educational needs? How can excellence and diversity be equally enabled? How do we maintain and ignite curiosity as the most important drivers of learning, teaching, and research? How do we link basic knowledge, competencies, and applied skills? How do we not only recognize previously acquired knowledge but also optimally utilize it in learning and research processes? How do we ensure profitable transnational collaboration in (higher) education and research? How do we design future-oriented curricula (European degrees, microcredentials, etc.)? How can future-oriented learning, research, and innovation environments be created? What defines effective, impactful, and flexible learning paths? What defines a future-oriented research area? …

12:00 CET | OPEN IDEAS LAB (Part IV) – Summary & Conclusions

12:30 CET | Lunch & Farewell