Empowering Universities and Researchers for a Sustainable Future
Aurora is one of 42 European university alliances in the Erasmus+ programme. With support form the European Commission, the project aims to enhance the capacities of teachers, students, and researchers to address societal needs, ultimately through societal entrepreneurship and innovation. In aligning their efforts with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s), Aurora addresses issues such as climate change, social inequality, and public health, for a more sustainable and equitable future.
Aurora's primary objectives are to:
- Enhance Education: Equip students with the skills and mindset needed to thrive in a rapidly changing society, and the willingness to become social entrepreneurs and innovators.
- Promote Research: Foster collaboration between member universities to produce meaningful and societally relevant innovation.
- Increase Mobility: Facilitate increased mobility for students and staff, enabling them to engage in joint courses, degrees, and research projects across member institutions.
- Develop a Virtual Campus: Create an interactive virtual campus that offers courses, training, and collaboration opportunities for students and staff, enhancing accessibility and flexibility in education and research.
Athena’s Role
Aurora pools resources and expertise from member universities for a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach. Bringing together diverse perspectives and skills tends to make solutions to global challenges more holistic, effective, resilient and relevant to societal needs.
The Athena Institute leads Work Package 4 (WP4): Teaching and Learning for Societal Impact. Its goal is to foster education that equips students with transversal skills for addressing societal needs. WP4 focuses on embedding service learning and co-creation as core pedagogies across Aurora universities. This is supported by shared learning and the development of joint frameworks for innovative pedagogies.
WP4 builds on existing tools like Learning Outcomes in University for Impact in Society (LOUIS), helping educators and students connect learning outcomes to societal relevance, especially in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Activities include mapping the availability of SDG-related courses to foster sustainability-focused education in Aurora universities, and integrating sustainability-focused skills and mindsets into curricula.
WP4 also expands Aurora’s educational vision through South-South and Triangular Cooperation, combining traditional North-South partnerships with collaborations among Global South institutions. This approach strengthens educational capacity and fosters a broader mutual understanding of global issues like food systems and climate change in a connected world.
Lessons and outcomes
The was developed to provide teachers with inspiration, and tools for designing service learning and co-creation in their own context.