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ENGAGE.EU is aiming to amplify societal impact: Toulouse Capitole University hosted the first "Societal Chapters" Workshop

Between February 6th and 7th, the ENGAGE.EU alliance universities and their socio-economic partners convened in Toulouse for the “Societal Chapters” workshop. Representatives from Helsinki, Mannheim, Rome, Toulouse, Vaasa, and Vienna municipalities, alongside charitable and environmental foundations, joined heads of the 9 participating universities. This gathering focused on the third pillar of the alliance, ENGAGE.EU in Society, dedicated to fostering university-society interactions.

Toulouse Capitole University spearheads a mission to forge partnerships for ENGAGE.EU activities, spanning education, research, and Innovation Labs addressing societal and environmental challenges.

Over the course of two days, the objectives were:

  • Facilitating introductions, especially for newcomers.
  • Aligning knowledge and sharing expectations regarding ENGAGE.EU in Society strategy.
  • Exchanging successful collaboration experiences between cities and universities.
  • Identifying collaboration opportunities based on themes proposed by four municipalities.

Participants delved into themes such as circular economy, climate change, digitalization, energy, labor markets, labor market & AI. Through 3D prototyping, they explored multi-stakeholder collaboration modalities, discussing key success factors and associated risks.

Two projects emerged: circular economy and labor market & AI, which will be the focus of separate working groups.

Overall, the workshop initiated a new collaboration model between academia and socio-economic spheres, emphasizing co-creation and mutual contribution to amplify societal impact.