How can we as university create a lasting impact benefitting local communities in the surroundings of our universities? This was the question addressed in this year’s ERASMUS Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) entitled ‘Your campus of the future’ coordinated by CEU Cardenal Herrera and co-hosted by Aschaffenburg University of Applied Sciences.
Around 40 students and lecturers from four different countries (Belgium, Spain, Slovakia, and Germany) and universities had gathered last week on the campus of the University CEU Cardenal Herrera, Valencia hosted by Prof Dr Paco Suay to collaborate on identifying solutions for challenges local communities in the surroundings of campus of CEU Cardenal Herrera is facing.
The European consortium was founded in 20022 around the theme “Your campus of the future” by Prof. Dr. Alexandra Angress at Aschaffenburg University of Applied Sciences with the four European partners CEU Cardenal Herrera, Valencia, the University of Zilina, HOWEST, Bruges and ISCAP Porto.
During this international intensive programme (28 – 2 October) students were introduced to Design Thinking in order to identify solutions for the community in line in particular with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 (= sustainable cities and communities) and to build a Business Model Canvas with Lego Serious Play. In a workshop led by Prof. Dr. Sabrina Schork on Design Thinking students learnt how to create ideas out of thoughts and how to empathize with the local community next to the campus of CEU Cardenal Herrera. A Paella circular cooking challenge formed part of the intensive programme during which six international student teams were assigned to buy local products and cook a paella. In their final presentation with local stakeholders students were presenting their project ideas on how to positively impact the community ranging from the creation of green areas to business accelerators, student residences and public /shared transportation.
“What a fantastic experience to get to know other international students in such a short amount of time and immerse with them here – there is no better and easier way than getting to know another culture than being in the country and meeting the locals,” Seyda Ilgezdi and Adrian Kaiser, two of the TH AB student delegation taking part in the IP summarized their experience.
This week at CEU Cardenal Herrera had been also great opportunity to explore deepening the bilateral cooperation with CEU Cardenal Herrera in the Faculty of Business and Law through the launch of a double degree programme on BA/MA by Alexandra Angress and her counterparts at CEU Cardenal Herrera. The idea of strengthening Spanish language competences at AUAS through the support of a Spanish language assistance scheme was discussed between Ernst Schulten, head of International Office and his counterparts at CEU Cardenal Herrera.
