European higher education is changing to meet the needs of a rapidly changing society. Higher education has much to build on in terms of students’ primary interests and responsibility in developing students' civic action, values, and commitments as part of their institutional goals to educate responsible citizens. Besides, higher education institutions need to bridge the existing gap in education and research by adopting flexible approaches to teaching, research and learning. However, scientific research still responds primarily to the concerns of academic disciplines rather than civil society needs. On the other hand, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) play a growing role in economical, social and environmental issues and have an increasing influence on global governance issues. But most of these organizations face scarcities in terms of financial and/or human resources which are critical to their ability to expand and improve their actions. Science Shops are proven to be effective mechanisms to strengthen higher education institutions their social responsibility, to strengthen civil society and to develop active citizenship in the scientific and student community. Providing research support to local communities strengthens the capacities of CSOs to expand their developmental impacts. Aiming to increase civic and social competencies of students and staff, while enhancing higher education institutions’ social responsibility, the ENtRANCE project proposes a flexible and multidisciplinary learning approach involving students and researchers/lecturers in collaborative research projects with CSOs. Higher education students and staff will be the direct target groups of the learning model proposed, but meanwhile CSOs and citizens in general will also be main beneficiaries of the project outcomes. An action-training programme will be developed, including seminars, field action in close collaborations with organizations and citizens, the set-up of local multidisciplinary working groups, workshops, and online transnational collaborative interactions. It will be supported by a carefully designed set of learning materials covering topics related with public engagement in Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI), community-based and engaged research and Science Shop work. Pilots will run in each country (B, NL, PT, FIN, LT) involving all target groups (students, staff, CSOs) through multidisciplinary teams in order to answer the societal issues raised by the CSOs. The educational strategies specified in the training framework will be adapted to fit the local specificities, always valuing the proximity with the CSOs. Reflection and experiential learning strategies will strengthen the learning process. Students will benefit from an exchange with CSOs and their expertise. Case studies will be produced to document the collaborative research and knowledge transfer process. Besides, the project initial exploration activities - need analysis and impact study - will result into new information on the state of the art concerning public engagement and actual research needs faced by civil society in the participant countries. This work will allow stakeholders to better address and adjust their solutions towards civil society development. Once the pilots are completed, it will be possible to assess its impact and deliver Guidelines with strategies and recommendations for stakeholders. This is expected to impact higher education curricula as well as the overall learning culture in higher education institutions through the development of a systemic institutional learning approach which encourages students and researchers/lecturers to engage with social and developmental issues in their local communities. It is estimated that the project reaches a significant number of CSOs (100), lecturers/researchers (50) and students (150), directly involved in the project activities. Follow-up and sustainability of the project results are assured by the higher education partners who will continue running or improving the action-training programme and evaluate the possibility of its inclusion in curricula for the benefit of their scientific and student communities. All the resulting project materials will be open and freely available online for consultation and can be used by different stakeholders concerned with the topic, including from other education levels.
As a result of the global dynamics and urgencies we are facing today, universities are prompted to interact more closely with their immediate surroundings and take more targeted and responsible actions for tackling the so-called ‘grand societal challenges’. However, HEIs research and education still responds primarily to the concerns of academic disciplines rather than civil society needs. On the other hand, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) play a growing role in economic, social and environmental issues and have an increasing influence on global governance issues. But most of these organizations face scarcities in terms of financial and/or human resources that are critical to their ability to expand and improve their actions. Providing research support to local communities strengthens the capacities of CSOs to expand their developmental impacts. Community Engaged Research and Learning (CERL), e.g. via Science Shops, is proven to be an effective mechanism to strengthen higher education institutions' social responsibility, to strengthen civil society and to develop active citizenship in the scientific and student community. The ENtRANCE project (2018-2021) increased and improved collaboration between CSOs and teachers/researchers/students, by developing and disseminating a training programme for teachers (and their students) on what CERL entails and how to put it into practice in courses and on institutional level. ENgaged ReseArch coNnecting Community with higher Education, that’s what ENtRANCE stands for and has been working towards, resulting in the achievement of its objectives: (1) increase skills/competencies of higher education students (and staff) to solve actual problems faced by civil society (2) boost participation of CSOs in collaborative research projects and bringing those issues on research agendas (3) embed scientific research results into local community actions, contributing to knowledge transfer (4) design, assess and recognize a flexible and multidisciplinary learning approach that can lay the foundation for effective partnerships between HEIs and civil society (5) share successful factors and challenges for supporting public engagement and transfer educational strategies and participatory methods to geographical contexts with scarce experience in the field The ENtRANCE project started with a large-scale study of research needs in CSOs and an impact study of Science Shop research on CSOs (345 CSOs took part in the studies). This work allows stakeholders to better address and adjust their solutions towards civil society development, enriching the research agendas with societal topics. Based on the results of the studies, the ENtRANCE team developed an open, flexible and multidisciplinary CERL learning approach and training materials, incorporated in a training programme for teachers on how to design and execute a quality Community Engaged Research and Learning (CERL) project, increasing the civic and social skills of students and staff while answering the societal issues raised by the CSOs. In the context of the trainings, all institutions conducted CERL pilot projects with multidisciplinary team of students, staff and CSOs. In total, 62 staff, 400 students and 81 CSOs were involved in those pilots, that were described in case studies documenting the collaborative research and knowledge transfer process. As a result of the CERL collaborations, the CSOs embedded new products, services or processes in their operation and spread their new knowledge to their local and international networks facing the same societal challenges. Because the CERL approach ENtRANCE developed put an emphasis on the equality between all partners (all learn from each other), CSOs were not 'helped' but 'empowered'. The training programme was assessed per institution: participants were overall positive and brought up areas of improvement, that will be applied in the future versions, as the programme will keep on running after the end of ENtRANCE. All ENtRANCE results were collected in an e-handbook for teachers and policy advisors who want to introduce community engaged research and learning into their modules, curricula and higher education institutions, titled "How to embed CERL into your institution", freely downloadable on the project website entrance-project.eu (and 8 other websites). On an institutional level, CERL was embedded in curricula and awareness of science and education decisionmakers increased, leading to institution-wide follow-up projects on CERL. Also, teachers and researchers’ networks of societal partners was expanded, leading to new collaborations also after the end of ENtRANCE. On a national level, other HEIs were inspired by the CERL training material and some proposed a similar approach to their staff/students. Dissemination also led to new collaborations between HEIs and, internationally, to much interest and fruitful discussions, and to two new approved Erasmus+ projects on CERL.