Challenges are back: for the Autumn semester, we invite students from ECIU member universities to join the ECIU University challenges and micro-modules.

The core of the ECIU University is the challenge-based approach where learners, teachers and researchers cooperate with business and society to solve real-life challenges.

Challenges are short or semester-long courses that enable teams to solve real-life problems. More than a hundred students have already participated in over 30 ECIU University challenges that included a wide selection of themes: from transforming the free food distribution to making public space usable. Get to know the first-hand experience of participants.

Micro-modules support learners and help them fill knowledge gaps, for example, widen their knowledge about communication and transport systems or sustainable development. Part of micro-modules also can help foster entrepreneurial, inter-cultural communication, foreign language and other skills.

Explore new challenges for the Autumn semester 2021.

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Why participate?

• Make a real impact. Gain first-hand experience and a possibility to contribute to real societal change. ECIU University challenges are provided by business companies and public partners and include problems that communities and organisations face at this very moment. ECIU University challenges mostly concern United Nations Sustainable Development Goal no. 11 “Sustainable cities and communities”.
• ‍Connections and multidisciplinary environment. Work with other learners, teachers, experts, representatives from business and public companies from different backgrounds and grow your network of connections.
• ‍New skills and inter-cultural environment. Build up inter-cultural competence, exchange practices and ideas, develop problem-solving and team-work skills. Use the opportunity to fill in the knowledge and skill gaps in various thematic areas participating in the ECIU University micro-modules.
• ‍Recognition and development. After successfully completing the challenge, receive a Certificate of Participation. You might have an opportunity to develop proposed solutions further, resulting in new services, products, research questions or start-ups and spin-offs.

How does it work?

1. Explore the challenges in the Challenge platform. Challenges are provided by a city, region or business or public company. Challenges can vary in length, from one or two-day challenge to a challenge stretching up to the semester length.
2. Register to the platform and apply to the challenges. More details about application and criteria can be found here.
3. After your application is approved, join an international or/and multidisciplinary team that includes other learners and a team facilitator, called a “teamcher”.
4. Work with the challenge provider, engage and investigate the challenge using the challenge-based learning method, and, finally, propose the solution.
5. Select micro-modules that help gain additional knowledge or skills.
6. Receive a Certificate of Participation and Challenge Supplement mentioning more details for the work carried out.
7. Grab a chance to further develop the proposed solutions with your team.

ECIU University is an EU-funded initiative that is being developed by 12 strong Universities in Europe. Join us to co-create a new way for education on the European scale!