Together for Europe's Higher Education Future

As the initiator and lead of the European University E³UDRES², the St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences is ideally positioned in Europe and is actively engaged in the further development of the European Higher Education Area. In March, the “E³UDRES² Spring Summit“ brought intensive exchange with companies and agencies for business and regional development on potentials for the further development of smart and sustainable regions. Moreover, UAS CEO and E³UDRES² President Hannes Raffaseder took part in a high-level meeting in Brussels on the role of European Universities for European competitiveness.

Spring Summit: Exchange with Experts from All over Europe

The E³UDRES² Spring Summit at the Saxion University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands brought together approximately 150 experts from all over Europe to discuss current challenges faced by European regions in the global competition. The focus was on the changing responsibilities of higher education institutions and the development of concrete measures for exploiting existing opportunities.

Close Collaboration with International Partners

One central item on the agenda was the International Stakeholders Forum that promoted the dialogue with successful leading companies such as Thales, Demcon, and IBM. Through their collaboration with E³UDRES², the companies have low-threshold access to a network of more than 100,000 talents and many experts from all over Europe. Joint initiatives like the E³UDRES² Living Labs, hackathons, bootcamps, and – starting from this autumn – the Joint Master programmes systematically promote innovation and excellence in education and training.

The close Europe-wide cooperation between nine regions in topic areas such as digitalisation and artificial intelligence, health, well-being and social inclusion, resilient economy, and innovation and creative industry opens up numerous new chances for the future-oriented further development of “Smart & Sustainable European Regions”. This results in great added value not only for students and staff members of the higher education institutions involved in E³UDRES², but also for the regional partners from the industry, administration, politics, and society. In the past few years, more than 500 European students already tackled regional challenges and developed 53 solutions to concrete questions from the business sector.

_{At the E³UDRES² Spring Summit: Anka Mulder, President of Saxion University of Applied Sciences, with UAS Managing Director Hannes Raffaseder | Credit: Saxion / Sven van Efferen}

Anna Kofler, CEO of the St. Pölten-based start-up thynkAI, was part of the International Stakeholders Forum: “The European University E³UDRES² allows us to engage in targeted exchange with leading players from the science community, the business sector, and society. In the AI space in particular, these close networks create valuable synergies that enable targeted and efficient knowledge transfer in a fast-moving market. Each of us contributes different perspectives to this interdisciplinary dialogue, and the valuable exchange helps to make us more competitive.”

High-Level Meeting on the Future of Higher Education in Europe

In his function as President of both E³UDRES² and EURASHE, the European Association of Applied Sciences in Higher Education, St. Pölten UAS CEO Hannes Raffaseder participated in a high-level meeting on the role of the European Universities Initiative for the competitiveness of Europe in global contexts. On a podium shared with Roxana Minzatu (Executive Vice President for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness of the European Commission), he spoke with about 130 principals of the 65 European universities.

On this occasion, Raffaseder stated his opinion that the European Union would have to become more ambitious yet and facilitate disruptive innovations – especially when it comes to the way in which knowledge is transferred. “After all, this is how we can teach future-relevant competencies, ensure the employability of our graduates, and attract talents regardless of age, gender, origin, or social background”, he explained.

Furthermore, he highlighted the meaning of diversity as one of the most valuable goods that Europe has to offer: “The targeted promotion of diversity is key. Instead of adopting a uniform approach, we ought to create an intelligent network of alliances that builds on unique and outstanding profiles.”

Interest from Neighbouring Countries

Interest in the activities of E³UDRES² and the strategic development of the St. Pölten UAS is high in other countries as well. The Deputy Minister of Education of the Czech Republic, Jiří Nantl recently paid a visit to the St. Pölten UAS in order to obtain information on the overall development and possibilities for collaboration.

_{(from left to right:) Head of Faculty Franz Fidler, E³UDRES² Senior Policy Officer Michal Karpisek, Deputy Czech Minister of Education Jiří Nantl and UAS Managing Directors Hannes Raffaseder and Johann Haag | Credit: St. Pölten UAS / Florian Stix}

Union of Skills against Lack of Skilled Labour

In the “Union of Skills” recently introduced by the European Commission, European Universities also play an important role. The declared goal of the Union of Skills is to improve general and vocational education, to actively tackle the lack of skilled labour in the EU, and to increase the European competitiveness.

Among other measures, the programme intends for the improved recognition of qualifications in the EU and – in the long term – the development of joint study programmes with a joint graduation certificate.

Vision: Creating Full-Fledged European Universities

“The European Commission has thus explicitly declared itself in favour of further strengthening the European University Alliances”, emphasises Raffaseder. “Our vision extends even further: We strive for the creation of full-fledged European Universities whose scope goes far beyond the usual exchange of experiences in international network because they will collaborate at a strategic level and engage in numerous joint activities in teaching, research, innovation, and knowledge transfer. With E³UDRES², we are already taking important steps towards this goal – with a strategy jointly developed by the nine universities involved, the establishment of joint research centres, interdisciplinary activities with students and regional partners, and the development of innovative Joint Master programmes in digital technologies, health, and media.”

Save the Date: E³UDRES² Science Festival

In May, E³UDRES² will bring the first Science Festival to St. Pölten. The E³UDRES² Science Festival celebrates research, knowledge transfer, and international collaboration: Under the motto “Local Pulse, Global Waves”, researchers of the St. Pölten UAS present their projects and invite guests to explore on 21 May 2025. Interactive stations, workshops, and lab tours demonstrate how science designs our future. The event is open for all and free of charge.

Further information: E³UDRES² Science Festival – St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences

Links:

• Joint Master programmes at the St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences
• Union of Skills – European Commission
• Engaged and Entrepreneurial European University as Driver for European Smart and Sustainable Regions | E³UDRES²