The main aims of the project have been identifying the patterns and factors that support the incorporation of inclusive and active student participation, enhancing student competences to allow them fully participate in the inclusive academic community and creating guidelines and recommendations concerning organisational structures of European HEIs in the context of uncertain times and rapid changes. In a wider scope, this project, along with enhancing the academic communities in the partner institutions and individuals involved, aimed at re-defining the meaning of this community in the contexts of everyday challenges. The consortium aspired to introduce stable yet flexible solutions for institutions and academic communities suitable for unsettled times.
The idea of the project came from the belief that a higher education institution (HEI) is more than academic courses and research, and that all of the people who attend and work at HEI should matter and feel motivated to be engaged in the initiatives that are important for them. The main motivation for such a project came from the early post-pandemic time, when many students who had spent most of their studies online lost their sense of belonging to the HEI community. The pandemic situation also made it prominent how important relationships and the feeling of being part of a group are. Hence, the project aimed at strengthening the sense of belonging to HEI through engaging students into active participation that helps bind them with the institution and enhance their sense of agency. From the institutional perspective, the motivation for such a project was to exercise the social mission of the HEIs in practice. With their diverse potential, HEIs should have a positive impact also outside the academic environment and be actively involved in building active and engaged societies that will face today's world problems.