Una Europa Student Project Incubator: Breaking Barriers for Student Engagement

The Una Europa Student Project Incubator: ‘Breaking Barriers for Student Engagement’ was an 11-week online programme for undergraduate and postgraduate students from the eleven Una Europa universities. It provided participants with experience in using the design thinking process to develop initiatives and solutions addressing barriers to student engagement. During the programme participants developed their abilities to identify real life challenges, explored them deeply by engaging with those affected, defined problem statements, ideated and developed prototypes to address the challenges, and tested them with real users. Finally, the participants also practiced presenting their solutions in short 1-pagers and online pitches. The programme focused on developing participant agency by supporting the development of transferable skills that can be applied anywhere in the future. The participants worked in international and interdisciplinary teams and developed their prototypes based on one of the following five topics: 1) University structures for engagement, 2) Communication for engagement, 3) Accessible, diverse, and inclusive engagement, 4) Student well-being in engagement, and 5) Recognition and benefits of student engagement. During the programme, participants joined online workshops based on the design thinking process, engaged in collaborative teamwork, and submitted regular milestones that supported their progress towards their prototypes. The Una Europa Student Project Incubator: 'Breaking Barriers for Student Engagement' was coordinated by the University of Helsinki.

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