Methodology and Approach 

Session 1: Online Focus Group for Local Leaders

The first session will be an online focus group with representatives from each university who will lead the local Collaboration Circle process. Attendance is intended for those responsible for organizing and facilitating the local focus groups, not necessarily for representatives from the productive or governmental sectors at this stage.

During this session, participants will address the challenges posed by artificial intelligence in higher education from various perspectives. In addition to collectively identifying the most relevant challenges, the session will include a training component: participants will learn how to extract keywords from responses, group them thematically, and categorize the identified challenges. This methodological guidance will be essential for each university to replicate the focus group in their own local context during the second session.

From this first session onward, a communication and collaboration channel will be established among all participating universities. Any questions or doubts that arise between sessions will be addressed, with special support provided from the Barcelona team. In fact, one of the key goals of this project is to foster an ongoing and active network of collaboration among universities.

Session 2: Synchronous Local Focus Groups
 The second session will take place on the same day and at the same time for all participating universities, with everyone connected synchronously in a joint online event. After a joint introduction led from Barcelona, participants will be divided into virtual meeting rooms, one per university, where each institution will conduct its own local focus group. Each local focus group must be composed of 6 participants, ensuring representation from the quadruple helix: academia, industry, government, and civil society.

The discussion will be guided by a set of structured questions (three to five), with the aim of identifying context-specific challenges and exploring possible solutions. The Barcelona team will oversee the process, assigning facilitators to each room or rotating between them to ensure the smooth running of the dynamics and resolve methodological questions in real time.

Each university will document the main challenges and proposals that emerge from its local dialogue.

Participants are expected to submit the response template with identified keywords. These contributions will be compiled and will serve as concrete inputs for the Collaboration Circle’s general report.

Session 3: Sharing and Consolidating Results
 The third session, also online, will focus on sharing and contrasting the findings from the local sessions. Participants in this session will be the same representatives from each university who attended Session 1 and led the local focus groups. Attendance is intended for those responsible for organizing and facilitating the local focus groups, not for representatives from the productive or governmental sectors.

Each university will present its results, highlighting the main challenges and proposals identified at the local level. This will be followed by a group discussion to analyze convergences and divergences between different contexts, fostering a broader and more comparative understanding. The session will also serve to identify opportunities for future collaboration, such as joint research projects or shared training initiatives on the responsible use of AI in higher education.

Outputs:
The main output will be a consolidated ENGAGE.EU report summarizing common challenges and emerging proposals, which will serve as a basis for future research and training project.