Alliances for Education and Enterprises

Scope

ALLIANCES FOR INNOVATION

Alliances for Innovation aim to strengthen Europe’s innovation capacity by boosting innovation through cooperation and flow of knowledge among higher education, vocational education and training (both initial and continuous), and the broader socio-economic environment, including research.

They also aim to boost the provision of new skills and address skills mismatches by designing and creating new curricula for higher education (HE) and vocational education and training (VET), supporting the development of a sense of initiative and entrepreneurial mind-sets in the EU.

OBJECTIVES OF THE ACTION

These partnerships shall implement a coherent and comprehensive set of sectoral or cross-sectoral activities, which should be adaptable to future knowledge developments across the EU.

To boost innovation, the focus will be on talent and skills development. Firstly, digital competences have become increasingly important in all job profiles across the entire labour market. Secondly, the transition to a circular and greener economy needs to be underpinned by changes to qualifications and national education and training curricula to meet emerging professional needs for green skills and sustainable development. Thirdly, the twin digital and green transition requires an accelerated adoption of new technologies across all sectors of our economy and society and boosting STEM skills and talent.

Lot 1: Alliances for Education and Enterprises

Alliances for Education and Enterprises are transnational, structured and result-driven projects, in which partners share common goals and work together to foster innovation, new skills, a sense of initiative and entrepreneurial mind-sets.

They aim to foster innovation in higher education, vocational education and training, enterprises and the broader socio-economic environment. This includes confronting societal and economic challenges such as climate change, changing demographics, digitisation, the emergence of new, disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence generating demand for STEM skills and talent and rapid employment changes through social innovation and community resilience as well as labour market innovation. In 2026, this topic will also address the challenge of severe skills gaps in sectors crucial for Europe’s competitiveness in line with the Union of Skills initiative.

Alliances for Education and Enterprises bring together enterprises and both higher education and vocational training providers to work together in partnership. Operating within one economic sector or several different economic sectors, they create reliable and sustainable relations and demonstrate their innovative and transnational character in all aspects. While each partnership must include at least one VET and one higher education organisation, they can address either both or one of these educational fields. The cooperation between VET and higher education organisations should be relevant and should benefit both sectors.

They intend to achieve one or more of the following aims:

• Fostering new, innovative and multidisciplinary approaches to teaching and learning: fostering innovation in education design and delivery, teaching methods, assessment techniques, learning environments and/or developing new skills;
• Supporting skills development in the STEM domains; supporting Europe’s innovation capacity by broadening its talent pool for new, disruptive technologies;
• Fostering the setting up of incubators within education and training institutions across Europe;
• Fostering corporate social responsibility (e.g. equity, inclusion, climate change, environmental protection and sustainable development);

Stimulating a sense of initiative and entrepreneurial attitudes, mind-sets and skills in learners, educational staff

• and other workers, in line with the Entrepreneurship Competence Framework (EntreComp)[ https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/bitstream/JRC101581/lfna27939enn.pdf];
• Improving the quality and relevance of skills developed and certified through education and training systems (including new skills and tackling skills mismatches);
• Facilitating the exchange and co-creation of knowledge between higher education and vocational education and training, research, the public sector and the business sector;
• Building and supporting effective and efficient higher education and vocational education and training systems, which are connected, inclusive and contribute to innovation.
• Supporting dedicated joint programmes or developing jointly micro-credentials and supporting mentorship for start up and scale ups in sectors crucial for Europe’s competitiveness where severe skills gaps occur.

Higher education institutions are encouraged to use the HEInnovate self-assessment tool [ https://heinnovate.eu/en] before applying, above all if they are coordinating the proposal. HEInnovate will help them identify their strengths and weaknesses in terms of entrepreneurship and innovation. The proposal and the consortium composition can therefore be better prepared and combine all the necessary expertise.