The main objective of this Erasmus+ KA3 co-funded project was to promote entrepreneurship and innovation in higher education at practice and at policy levels.

The pan-European project aimed to establish a community of higher education institutions (HEIs) and policy makers to promote innovation and strengthen their capacity to play a stronger role in their surrounding economies.

The project wanted to break institutional boundaries and include, not only internal stakeholders (rector, rectorate and deans) but also administrative staff, students, educators, researchers and external stakeholders. Together, they would identify barriers that prevent institutional change and innovation. Bringing people with different roles and hierarchy levels together allowed participants to see the barriers from individual perspectives but with a common purpose - to strengthen HEIs roles in the local/regional economy.

The project kicked-off in Vienna, Austria in November 2019. Originally to run for 24 months the project was extended to 30.04.2022 due to Covid 19.

Beyond Scale had three main objectives:

• To develop the entrepreneurial capacity of HEIs in a pan European community of practice.
• To further develop the HEInnovate approach.
• To document practices of organisational development and institutional change in light of using the HEInnovate and similar tools as learning models for higher education actors and policy makers and also for the academic debate.

Two capacity-building seminars would be organised and hosted by project partners, as well as a final conference. Over the course of the project, guidelines on how to use the HEInnovate approach would be developed on the topics mentioned above.

Beyond scale newsletters

In February 2021, BeyondScale launched the first in a series of newsletters to share and document good practices based on the outcomes of the individual and collaborative activities of participants. The newsletters also provided updates on project activities, interesting news and upcoming events.

• Issue 1: The first issue provides an overview of the project in general, the project partners, the buddy system and information on the value proposition workshops. 19 February 2021.
• Issue 2: This issue includes details on the Value Proposition Workshop organised by Hincks Centre for Entrepreneuship Excellence at Munster Technological University (MTU) in Cork, Ireland. 5 March 2021.
• Issue 3: Read about the Value Proposition Workshop organised by our Bularian Partner - University of Ruse "Angel Kanchev", Bulgaria. 12 March 2021.
• Issue 4: This issue contains highlights from the mid-term conference which was hosted by the University of Ruse "Angel Kanchev", Bulgaria. 25 March 2021
• Issue 5: Details the Value Proposition Workshop organised by University of NOVA Information Management School (IMS), Portugal. 21 April 2021.
• Issue 6: Details of the Value Proposition Workshops organised by FH Campus Wien, Austria. 7 May 2021.
• Issue 7: Details of the inbound and outbound workshops conducted by NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands. 21 May 2021.
• Issue 8: Details of the Value Proposition Workshop by Dublin City University. 4 June 2021.
• Issue 9: Beyond Scale Seminar hosted by MTU's School of Business and Hincks Centre for Entrepreneurship Excellence, “Promoting Entrepreneurship and Innovation: the Regionally Engaged University”. 11 June 2021.
• Issue 10: Details fo the Value Proposition Workshop by Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo (IPVC). 25 June 2021.
• Issue 11: Value Proposition interviews by University of Innsbruck, UIBK. 12 July 2021.
• Issue 12: This issue introduces the accompanying research within the BeyondScale project. The accompanying research represents one of the working packages and it is led by the Center for Higher Education Policy Studies (CHEPS) at the University of Twente. 23 July 2021.
• Issue 13: The 43rd annual EAIR Forum was virtually hosted by Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany. The programme included 7 tracks and several networking spaces, among them interactive sessions from the Forward-Looking project Beyond Scale. September 2021.
• Issue 14: From 14-16 of October, Erasmus+ celebrated ErasmusDays in which all interested parties could take part and share their Erasmus experience. Beyond Scale took the opportunity to participate and organised an official launch for the HEInnovate Value Proposition Canvas Tutorial on October 14, 2021. October 2021.
• Issue 15: Teaching the Entrepreneurs of the Future Within the BeyondScale project, an international teacher network is being kicked off, focusing on building entrepreneurial education that is effective, innovative and attractive, and might contribute massively to the development of knowledge, skill and attitude in and around the area of entrepreneurship. January 2022.
• Issue 16: The Digi Buddy platform (www.digi-buddy.eu), developed within the BeyondScale project, supports Higher Education Institutions to find institutional partners to exchange information and experiences and assists with evidence-based tools. It has already been tested by several HEIs, and now it is your turn! And learn more about the International Entrepreneurial Education Network that kicked off within the project with the aim to bring together a wide range of stakeholders.
• Issue 17: The Final Newsletter! The final Beyond Scale Conference took place on April 5-6 in Vienna, Austria. This was the final event of the project and provided an overview of the tools developed in the last 2.5 years, the experiences made and the resulting guidelines and user stories. It also set the course for the next steps and developments.

Promoting entrepreneurship & Innovation: the regionally engaged university

The Hincks Centre and the School of Business hosted a live-streamed webinar as part of the project. The webinar - 'Promoting Entrepreneurship and Innovation: the Regionally Engaged University' was live-streamed on April 15, 2021. Keynote addresses were given by Professor Irene Sheridan, Extended Campus, MTU and Zsuzsa Jávorka, Technopolis Group. The webinar also included pre-recorded interviews with some of the project partners and the following is the interview from the Hincks Centre's Helen McGuirk:

the final conference

The Beyond Scale Final Conference took place on April 5 and 6, 2022 in Vienna, Austria. It was the final event of the Beyond Scale project and provided an overview of the tools developed in the last 2.5 years, the experiences made and the resulting guidelines and user stories, but also set the course for the next steps and developments.

Overall, 39 speakers from 15 different nations were actively involved in the event and joined the event on-site, online via Zoom and via live stream.

Additional information, presentations, summaries, a short video of the event and much, much more is available on the Beyond Scale Conference website and can be accessed by clicking here. Enjoy!

Partner locations

The lead partner is WPZ Research GmbH, Vienna, Austria with 9 other partners from:

• Munster Technological University (Hincks Centre for Entrepreneurship Excellence) - Cork, Ireland;
• Dublin City University (DCU) - Dublin, Ireland;
• University of Twente, Center for Higher Education Policy Studies (CHEPS) - Enschede, The Netherlands;
• Stichting NHL Stenden Hogeschool - Leeuwarden, The Netherlands;
• University of Ruse "Angel Kanchev" (URAK) - Ruse, Bulgaria;
• FH-Campus Wien - Vienna, Austria;
• Universität Innsbruck (UIBK) - Innsbruck, Austria;
• Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo (IPVC) - Viana do Castelo, Portugal;
• Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL) - Lisbon, Portugal.

https://www.beyondscale.eu/

Disclaimer: This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.