The primary objective of the project was to strengthen the civic engagement role of universities by equipping students, HE staff, and civil society actors with practical tools to develop social entrepreneurship initiatives. Specifically, we aimed to: ● Develop comprehensive report from all 4 countries and policy recommendations on social entrepreneurship to guide regional and institutional strategies. ● Create an innovative digital self-learning course, accessible to diverse learners, incorporating gamification and badges to boost motivation and engagement. ● Facilitate the creation of social entrepreneurship projects that tackle real-world community issues. ● Build institutional capacity for embedding social entrepreneurship practices in curricula and mentoring structures. These objectives aligned with the EU Strategy for Universities, focusing on inclusion, social innovation, and strengthening the “third mission” of HEIs as active contributors to society.
We applied for DigiFUnCollab project to address a significant gap in the civic engagement of universities within their communities and the lack of structured opportunities for students and higher education (HE) staff to develop social entrepreneurship skills. A survey, conducted in 2022, and involving 159 respondents from partner countries (Italy, Slovenia, Germany, and Romania), revealed that while civic-mindedness and competencies for social engagement were seen as critical, they were underdeveloped in practice. Universities were often perceived as “ivory towers,” with limited involvement in real-world societal challenges. Moreover, there was a clear need for flexible and innovative learning opportunities for HE stakeholders to acquire applied skills that strengthen university-community collaboration. The project sought to empower universities as change agents, support students in gaining labor market-relevant entrepreneurial skills, and promote civic engagement through a digital self-learning approach.