The ECIU Foundation
The European Consortium of Innovative Universities, ECIU, was founded in 1997 and is the leading international consortium of research-intensive universities, with collective emphasis on innovation, creativity, and societal impact, driving the development of a knowledge-based economy. University of Twente is one of the partner universities. The mission is to ‘challenging conventional thinking’ with a focus on ‘innovation in teaching and learning' and ‘entrepreneurship and societal impact of research’.
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Member universities
ECIU University
Part of the ECIU collaboration is the ECIU University which will transform higher education to become an open ecosystem for solving societal challenges, doing research and learning for life. The ECIU University is an EU-funded European University that will create a completely new educational model on a European scale, it gathers together learners, teachers, and researchers to cooperate with cities and businesses and solve real-life challenges.
ECIU University connects students with businesses, teachers, researchers, organisations and communities to address real-life problems and contribute to real change - all while developing future-proof skills and building a basis for their career. ECIU University was one of the first alliances to join the flagship European Universities Alliances initiative in 2019. Co-funded by the EU, the initiative now encompasses 73 alliances with almost 650 higher education institutions of all types, from all across Europe.
How does it work? Watch here:
Pilot project phase (ECIUn, 2019 - 2022)
In the first years of ECIU University, the alliance piloted the challenge-based learning approach, where multi-disciplinary teams worked on real-life challenges and co-developed ideas and solutions.
The results of the first three ECIU University years can be found as deliverables on the ECIU website.
Second project phase (ECIUn+, 2022 –2026)
The second phase of ECIU University focused on educational innovation based on personalised, flexible learning pathways, awarded with micro-credentials. Activities in this phase have resulted in five main transformative achievements (numbers were collected in March 2026):
- Innovative education: ECIU University has revolutionised education with challenge-based learning and flexible learning pathways. Over 5300 students participated in 580+ published learning opportunities (Challenges or Micro-modules). This led to 9300+ participations, awarded with micro-credentials. Students collaborated with more than 180 external organisations, addressed real-life problems, acquired interpersonal skills, learned new languages and embraced a sense of European identity.
- Micro-credential leadership: ECIU University stands at the forefront of micro-credentialing in Europe. Work on policy development, as well as the technical implementation of micro-credentials, integrated with the EDCI system, resulted in 3500+ e-sealed micro-credentials issued within a year.
- Digital experience platform: The digital ecosystem platform integrates 12 project partners and is pivotal to many processes at ECIU University: from education delivery to administrative workflows to participants connecting through their dedicated hubs.
- Vibrant community: A thriving ECIU University community brings together thousands of students from diverse nationalities through events, mobilities, and collaborative learning experiences.
- Sustainable service structure: A robust service framework underpins ECIU University’s operations, ensuring high-quality support across education, IT, mobility, marketing and communication.
All ECIU University opportunities for students, teachers and staff, including the recent updates, can be found on the ECIU website. An updated overview of ECIUn+ results and public deliverables will be published soon.
Third phase (ECIUn+2, 2026-2028)
With EU co-funding secured, the Alliance is set to continue building the digital campus and pursuing innovation in higher education to build the European University of the future. Read more succes stories on the ECIU website.
Erasmus
The world is changing and universities should be changing with it. That is the basic idea behind the ECIU's ambitious project, the 'ECIU University'. It’s a joint university involving all ECIU members and offering a completely new type of education.
