TANDEM+ sets the path towards 2030 with a multi-dimensional, international Open Entrepreneurship Alliance for societal impact under the Sustainable Development Goals. The Alliance will prepare talents for entrepreneurial thinking and actions, promoting an international exchange of talents and start-ups, and creating a network of European universities, EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs), and stakeholders of regional ecosystems. The long-lasting impact of the project will be ensured through mentoring, ‘train the trainer’, and micro-credential programmes for the partners of the network, with a special focus on countries from the EIT Regional Innovation Scheme.

Building upon HEInnovate results, TANDEM+ relies on an integrated set of initiatives related to the four domains and six actions of the HEI Initiative, namely: (1) institutional engagement for the implementation of the plan; (2) enhancing the scale and scope of student engagement; (3) good practice exchange by networking and mutual learning; (4) developing structures and conditions for people to create and develop their business and start-ups; (5) assessment of teaching and learning practices; and (6) innovative and entrepreneurial programmes as well as mentoring schemes for staff and students.

TANDEM+ unleashes the potential of higher education institutions (HEIs) through the following initiatives:

• a network of HEIs and their regional ecosystems;
• acceleration facilities to support talents and entrepreneurial activities for innovative cross-university formats (TANDEM+ HEIs);
• integrated programmes (training and mentoring) involving educators, researchers, staff and students (TANDEM+ Teams);
• holistic cross-university approaches and frameworks involving students, educators, researchers and staff;
• international collaboration bridging HEIs, regional ecosystems, and services of EIT KICs;
• lifelong learning programmes based on micro-credentials for students, educators, researchers, staff, and industry partners;
• assessment framework for impact measurement on personal development, societal and innovation performance;
• cooperative legal structure for the Open Entrepreneurship Alliance, allocating ‘cooperative shares’ to each member as a reward programme.

TANDEM+ provides answers to the EIT Strategic Innovation Agenda 2021−2027, namely by creating an innovation ecosystem that is far beyond the project network, continuously open to onboard institutions. It also provides support from all partners committed to bringing others to this dynamic Alliance.

TANDEM+ is aligned to the main mission of EIT KICs, bringing together businesses, research centres, and universities under their strategic objectives (SOs):

• EIT Manufacturing SO1 (‘Manufacturing skills and talents’) and SO2 (‘Manufacturing innovation ecosystems’);
• EIT Urban Mobility SO2 (‘Close the knowledge gap’);
• EIT Health Cross-Challenge B (‘Leveraging talents and education’);
• EIT RawMaterials SO2 (‘Designing materials solutions’).

Project coordinator

Barbara Gabriel, Vice-Dean for Internationalisation at Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Aveiro (contact)

Project website

startforfuture.eu