European University Alliances as Engines for Innovative Teaching: A Look Back at the HDS.Forum 2025

International exchange and hands-on insights
Under the guiding theme of individualization in higher education, the forum explored how European collaboration can concretely enhance teaching and learning. Sessions focused on innovative teaching concepts, digital learning spaces, hybrid mobility models, and the role of universities as social actors.
Renowned experts from across Europe, from higher education developers and teachers to students, shared practice-oriented insights and examples of how European university alliances act as true engines for innovation in teaching.

Central themes and takeaways
The forum opened with a keynote by Dr. Anna Santucci (University of Virginia), who reflected on intercultural competence as a foundation for inclusive and transformative teaching. She invited participants to think about how awareness of cultural difference can foster fairness, engagement, and a genuine sense of belonging in learning environments.

Building on this, the programme offered lively discussions on how transnational cooperation can support flexible and student-centered learning. Participants examined how digital platforms, micro-credentials, and hybrid mobility formats could be integrated more sustainably into curricula. A recurring theme was how universities can act not only as learning institutions but also as social partners, bridging academic knowledge with societal engagement.

Many sessions highlighted that innovation in teaching often emerges where disciplinary and institutional boundaries are crossed. Questions about the recognition of learning achievements across countries, the balance between virtual and physical mobility, and the long-term sustainability of joint teaching initiatives sparked vivid debate. Despite the diversity of perspectives, one shared conclusion emerged: collaboration across European alliances strengthens both quality and inclusivity in higher education teaching as it includes high potentials of new learning formats, expanded mobility opportunities, and the exchange of fresh ideas across borders.

In addition, a gallery walk invited European university alliances to showcase their projects, giving participants the chance to engage with alliance representatives and explore concrete examples of international cooperation. 

Recordings of selected sessions and posters are available here:

Anna Santucci: Keynote – Across difference intercultural teaching and learning

Miquel Alsina Tarrés: Challenged based Learning (CBL)

Poster Eutopia: Connected Communities

Positive feedback and impressions
After two days of engaging discussions and lively exchanges, participant feedback was overwhelmingly positive. More than 80% agreed that the forum deepened their understanding of how European university alliances can enhance teaching and learning, offered valuable insights into sustainable European cooperation, and created meaningful opportunities for exchange and networking across institutions and countries. 

In addition, over 90% rated the organization of the event as (very) good.

The organizers also drew a highly positive conclusion. "The close collaboration across institutions and countries once again showed the enormous potential of European networking for teaching,” summarized Dr. Stefanie Troppmann (HDS and Member of ACROSS alliance TUC).

In the following you find further impressions from HDS.Forum:

Blog article: 

• „Students and teachers in discourse: How can individualization succeed in university teaching?” by Kathrin Franke

• Europäische Hochschulallianzen sind Motoren für innovative Lehre by Ulrike Rada, Dr. Stefanie Troppmann

Thanks to everyone involved!
The team of Hochschuldidaktik Sachsen extends its sincere thanks to all participants and supporters who enriched the HDS.Forum 2025 with their energy, insights, and ideas.

Fotocredits: © HDS

This blog post is licensed under the CC BY-NC-ND licence.