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

Afternoon

CO-CREATING FUTURE (HIGHER) EDUCATION?

Innovative learning and teaching of (future) skills and competencies in times of global challenges and rapid AI & EdTech developments

While Humboldt promoted the unity of research and education about 250 years ago, many universities and their (academic) staff still treat them as rather separated missions. As universities’ and professors’ reputation is still strongly dependent on common research indicators, the further development of education is too often not in the center of their interests and innovative approaches are promoted from sperate didactic centers. But complex societal challenges together with rapid progress in AI and other (digital) technologies urge to accelerate a shift from teaching to learning and from students to lifelong learners.

How can we promote a transformation of all-knowing professors into agile learning coaches who guide learners through flexible learning paths and ensure fruitful learning experiences? How are we enabling learners to unfold talents and who is supporting them? How can we ensure job-ready graduates who are – at the same time – prepared for a progressing career in uncertain times? What are the most promising teaching and learning methods to support (future) learners? How can challenge and project-based learning, experiential and engaged learning, learning in real-world scenarios… be mainstreamed? How can we promote and accelerate a shift from teaching to learning?

Talent is everywhere, but how can we reach the (so far) unreachable? What makes a good educator and what a good learner? Who is (afraid) of Dr. Google and Professor ChatGPT? How can learners and teachers benefit from AI and any other (educational) technology instead of being replaced? What motivates (future) learners and how can their curiosity be sparked? How do learners gain orientation and self-confidence while simultaneously learning agility and how to deal with uncertainty? Who is driving innovative and inspiring learning and teaching methods? Who are the learners (students?) of today and tomorrow? Who are the educators, researchers, innovators? Who is bridging existing gaps in education, research, innovation and the world of work? How can we ensure high quality standards, diversity and inclusion in (higher) education?

Evening

WELCOME-DINNER, MEET & CONNECT

Morning

RE-IMAGINE INSPIRING CURRICULA & FUTURE UNIVERSITIES

Pathways through inspiring environments for future-guiding learning experiences?

While knowledge generation is accelerating rapidly, traditional university curricula typically change very slowly. Although the available information in some fields might double within only a few hours, many universities still evaluate their curricula every four to five years. While many universities still think in closed bubbles of narrow disciplines, faculties, departments, institutes and study programs and act along linear processes from student recruitment to graduation, from bachelor to master to PhD, both edtech-startups, big tech-companies and their AI-based platforms and social networks haven taken over the lead and provide the skills need for the world of work. For many years now, people have been asking Google and (more recently) Chat-GPT instead of acknowledged professors from universities. People have got used to learning on demand in small bits and pieces, learn by doing, learn top-down to quickly achieve hands-one results and problem-solving solutions instead of bottom up from the fundamentals to more specific issues to applications. Universities have to re-imagine their curricula to ensure that they are truly more than their parts, offer open learning environments and enhance learning experiences and inspire, encourage and guide motivated talents. So, what makes a future-guiding curriculum?

How can universities balance between sound specialist knowledge and broad interdisciplinary future skills, between individual specialization and holistic approaches, training of specialists to overcome skills-shortage and more general academic education as a basis for critical reflection, etc. How can universities boost flexible learning paths and recognition of prior learning? How can universities deal with different levels of prior expertise and experience? Who can curricula tackle skills needed to strengthen European competitiveness? How can curricula bridge gaps between tackling specific skills shortage and providing more general (academic) knowledge? How can curricula integrate the world of work, research, innovation and community-based approaches?

Afternoon

UNLOCKING THE FULL POTENTIAL OF UNIVERSITIES-INDUSTRIES-COLLABORATION

Conducting, strengthening and inter-connecting (cross-border) ecosystems as platforms for collaborative innovation in smart and sustainable regions

We need to reshape the role of higher education institutions from providers of degrees and publications that are too often only read in the bubbles of narrow scientific communities into open platforms for collaborative innovation that empower place-based skills- and innovation-ecosystems and strengthen global connections. Such platforms encompass different generations of learners, teachers, innovators, researchers, entrepreneurs from different countries and cultures, engaging with industry and the wider public. Yet, academics often remain stuck in linear thinking and try to reduce complexity to solve existing problems, while disruptive innovation quite often happens off the beaten scientific tracks.

To survive within global competition, we must deepen, expand and accelerate ongoing activities with impact-focused and opportunity-driven approaches rather than repeating long-lasting discussions about hurdles, barriers and lack of funding. But who is orchestrating and further developing (regional) innovation ecosystems and (trans-)national collaboration? How can we synchronize very different timescales of academic and industrial processes? How can we bridge existing gaps between academic bubbles and the world of work and ensure that relevant actors learn each other’s languages? How can we build trust and enhance mutual benefits? How can we take swift action and avoid lengthy discussions without usable results? How can we support and collaborate with startups and significantly raise the number of academic spin-offs? What does it mean to act as an entrepreneurial university, and what pitfalls are associated with it? How can we foster skills and innovation ecosystems to bridge existing gaps between the world of work and education, training, innovation and research?

Evening

PANEL DISCUSSION & OFFICIAL OPENING DINNER

Morning

SMART TECHNOLOGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE REGIONS?

Co-creating and implementing innovative use cases for human-centered AI and other digital technologies to empower sustainable regions

Regions across Europe and beyond are confronted with complex and interconnected challenges: climate change, demographic shifts, skills and labour shortage, resource scarcity, unequal access to public services and many others. At the same time, rapid technological advancements, particularly in artificial intelligence and digital platforms, offer unprecedented opportunities to address these issues.

However, many regions struggle to translate technological potential into tangible, inclusive, and sustainable outcomes. There is a strong need for innovative, human-centered use cases of AI and digital technologies to strengthen regional resilience and sustainability. To tackle citizens’ needs, promising solutions must ensure transparency, consider ethical aspects and provide benefits for (regional) companies and communities instead of replacing people’s jobs. Data availability, interoperability, governance, and public trust remain critical barriers that must be addressed. Proposed solutions may include smart mobility systems, data-driven energy management, digital healthcare services, or participatory platforms enabling citizen engagement. Interdisciplinary approaches, combining technological innovation with social, environmental, and economic perspectives.

Of course, manifold questions arise in this context: How can AI be designed and implemented to benefit diverse regional populations? What governance models ensure responsible and equitable use of data? How can digital solutions enhance sustainability without increasing inequalities? What role can local stakeholders play in co-creating and scaling solutions? How can we foster collaborative, scalable, and ethical digital innovations to empower regions to become more sustainable, inclusive, and future-ready?

Afternoon

STE(A)M ENGINES?

The (possible) roles of Humanities, Arts and Creative Industries in an AI-driven society

At least within academia, there is increasing discussion about a (supposed) decline in the humanities and arts. Particularly against the backdrop of rapid technological developments, existing challenges to democratic structures, dwindling public trust in universities, and a lack of scientifically grounded expertise, a revival of the humanities is frequently called for.

The shift from STEM to STEAM – that is, the integration of arts and humanities into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics – is an important trend that is being intensively discussed, at least within universities. Various studies on future skills also clearly point to the importance of critical thinking, discourse skills, creativity, problem-solving abilities, and so on – competencies that are particularly well-established and further developed in the humanities, arts, and creative industries. Europe seems unable to keep pace with the US and China in the area of technology-driven developments that accelerate efficiency, automation, and data-driven decision-making.

However, the development of human-centered use-cases for AI and other (future) technologies that take questions of bias, authorship, ethics, cultural homogenization, fair access, inclusion and the erosion of critical thinking, the raise of fake news and challenged democratizes into account could offer an opportunity. In this context, the humanities, the arts, and the creative industries must play a key role in many respects.

How can we empower humanities, arts and technologies and transform these disciplines into future driving “steam engines” to boost European competitiveness and drive a prosperous society? How can we link society and technologies? How can we strive for a “resurrection of humanities and arts” as core disciplines for progressing Europe? How can social innovation benefit from AI and other (future) technologies? How can tech-driven developments benefit from experience and expertise arising from humanities, arts and creative industries bringing imagination, meaning, narrative, and ethical reflection into innovation cycles? How can we ensure that humanities and arts act not as peripheral “add-ons” but as core drivers of innovation? How can artistic practices and scientific methods in the humanities help make AI systems more human-centered, transparent and trustworthy? How might humanities and arts shape ethical AI design? What role do creative industries play in redefining value and societal impact beyond efficiency? Can storytelling improve public understanding of AI? How do we ensure cultural diversity in algorithmic systems? What new forms of co-creation emerge between humans and machines? Where do we draw boundaries between human and artificial creativity? How can education better integrate STE(A)M approaches? What skills will future practitioners need? Who gets to shape the narratives around AI?

Evening

PANEL DISCUSSION, FARE-WELL DINNER, MEET & GREET

Morning

UNITED CAMPUSES OF EUROPE?

Unfolding the full potential of European Universities Alliances and co-created a fully-fledged European Campus

The European Universities Initiative of the European Union is one of the most important higher education policy developments in recent years and is creating enormous momentum in transnational cooperation. The impact of the European University Alliances on the European Higher Education Area is multifaceted, even just a few years after the launch of this European flagship initiative. It is well documented by the European Commission and various European university and higher education associations, discussed at numerous conferences and high-level meetings, and the subject of various academic studies. European Universities Alliances have co-created relevant success stories, but how can the European University Alliances be best developed further? How can the numerous best practices that have been developed be fully realized within the European Higher Education Area? How can a long-term vision be pursued, and how can the alliances be viewed as a strategic development process rather than just another EU project? What opportunities arise from "United Campuses of Europe"? Which success factors are particularly important for the positive development of a "European Campus"? How can the European Campus Hainburg become a concrete demonstrator for learner-centered, opportunity-driven and cross-border European university development?