Link to the press conference: EC AV PORTAL (europa.eu)
Link to the official photos: EC AV PORTAL – launch of the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) Virtual Campus (europa.eu)
Today, The European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) is launching the EIT Campus – bringing together all EIT entrepreneurship education and skill development activities offered by the Institute and its nine Knowledge and Innovation Communities (EIT KICs).
As part of the launch, the EIT is introducing an online platform that will be home to over 250 courses in the thematic areas tackled by the EIT Community. The first courses featured on the platform are in the areas of climate, food, urban mobility and raw materials and support the skills transition for a greener and healthier Europe.
Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth said: ‘We created the EIT Campus to offer one central entry point for students and professionals willing to expand their knowledge on diverse topics, while keeping an eye on innovation and entrepreneurship. The training offers and opportunities provided by EIT Campus will widen their horizon in domains that are crucial for our future. We want both students and professionals to be best equipped because they belong to the driving forces that will support Europe in its digital and green transitions.’
In addition to business creation and acceleration, and innovation projects, entrepreneurship education serves as one of the main pillars of support the EIT Community offers to thousands of innovators across Europe. Over the past decade, the EIT Community has developed a wide range of cutting-edge educational activities based on partnerships between universities, companies, and research centres. Since 2018, the EIT has channelled over EUR 350 million of funding towards entrepreneurship education activities across all EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities powering the next generation of European talents.
Education activities under the EIT Campus will offer services for the following learners:
- Secondary school students through the EIT Girls Go Circular project, which helps young girls develop technological and entrepreneurship skills related to the green and digital transition.
- University students through the EIT Label, a certificate of quality awarded to outstanding educational programmes focusing on innovation, entrepreneurship, creativity and leadership. Under this label, the EIT, with its network of 200 universities, has developed 65 master and doctoral programmes, which already count over 4,500 graduates.
- Professional learners through the EIT’s non-degree courses and workshops. To date, over 100,000 learners have participated in these EIT online educational activities. Professional learners will also benefit from the targeted skills development programmes including the new EIT Deep Tech Talent Initiative, set to skill one million talents in deep tech fields, and the European Battery Alliance Academy, working with EU Member States and industry partners to train and upskill 800,000 workers across the entire battery supply chain.
- Higher Education Institutions (HEI)through the EIT HEI Initiative to support faculties in teaching innovation and entrepreneurship. Currently 50 projects involving over 290 Higher Education Institutions and 300 non-academic organisations are part of the EIT HEI Initiative. In 2021 alone, projects have trained over 9,900 students, academic and non-academic staff and have supported over 310 start-ups and scale-ups.
Most of the school programmes will be accessible free of charge, whereas more professional courses and programmes will carry a fee. The EIT Campus online platform is a joint EIT community activity, coordinated by EIT Urban Mobility.
Learn more about the EIT Campus in a factsheet here
Nektarios Tavernarakis, Chair of the EIT Governing Board, added: ‘The EIT Campus and its virtual platform is a huge milestone for the EIT Community! We have now put the scale and power of the EIT network, with our 3 400 partners and Knowledge and Innovation Communities, under one roof. Never before has it been easier to join one of our education programmes, and to explore the huge opportunities of support the EIT Community offers. I look forward to seeing the EIT Campus grow, to welcoming new learners to our education activities, and to see the impact that our courses will have in taking innovators to the next level of their journey.’
Maria Tsavachidis, CEO of EIT Urban Mobility: “Today, we are very happy to launch the EIT Campus online platform to empower people to successfully navigate labour market changes and to fully participate in a green economy. Through the platform, we will reach a wider audience of learners and professionals to address the skilling, upskilling and reskilling needed across different sectors. No one should be left behind in the transformation towards a green economy. We will break down academic silos by bringing together courses from different disciplines to train existing and future workforces. The EIT Campus online platform is born today to become the go-to resource for learners and professionals wishing to further their careers in the space of the green economy.”
The EIT Campus’ online portal is expected to become fully operational in mid-2023, housing over 250 courses and opportunities across the entire EIT ecosystem. As part of its launch phase, the EIT will unveil the online education portfolios of four of its Knowledge and Innovation Communities: EIT Climate-KIC, EIT Food, EIT RawMaterials and EIT Urban Mobility.
Featured courses available now include, among others: Food for Thought: The Relationship Between Food, Gut and Brain; How to Plan a Hackathon: Hacking the Challenges of Digital Education; Circular Economy – Sustainable Materials Management; Reclaiming the Street for Liveable Urban Spaces and many more. To learn more about EIT education services, or to join Europe’s largest innovation community, please click here.
