It was a highly productive and inspiring week for the HUCO Labs project, with presentations at two major European higher education conferences and many valuable conversations with different communities of practice.
The week began on Monday, 15 June, at the EDEN Annual Conference in beautiful Porto, where HUCO Labs was introduced to an international audience interested in digital education, learning innovation and future-oriented competence development. The presentation offered an opportunity to share the project’s approach to strengthening innovation skills and to discuss how higher education can better prepare learners for complex societal, digital and green transformation challenges.
Later in the week, HUCO Labs was also presented at the EURASHE Annual Conference in Amsterdam. With its strong focus on universities of applied sciences and practice-oriented higher education, the conference provided a different but equally relevant context for discussing the project. The exchange highlighted the importance of connecting competence development with real-world challenges, applied research and innovation ecosystems.
Across both conferences, the response to HUCO Labs was very encouraging. Participants showed strong interest in the project’s goals, asked thoughtful questions and contributed many perspectives from their own institutional and professional contexts. The discussions underlined that innovation skills are becoming increasingly important across different areas of higher education — from digital learning environments to applied university settings.
The presentations also demonstrated the relevance of HUCO Labs for diverse audiences. While the EDEN conference opened conversations around digital and future-oriented learning, EURASHE provided valuable insights into how innovation competences can be embedded in applied and practice-based higher education.
A big thank you goes to all participants who joined the sessions, engaged in discussion and shared their ideas. The many conversations following both presentations offered valuable impulses for the continued development of the HUCO Labs project.
Together, we are working to strengthen the skills needed for a green, digital and innovation-driven future.