Learning to Transform Together

Join us for an informal conversation about transforming post-secondary education through collaboration.

We’ll explore the Dutch approach - and hope to gain some inspiration for others in the DACH region. Standing on a long tradition of cooperation in both societies of (H)EIs and in IT (SURF) the Dutch public educational sector has received funding of the national government to accelerate the use of digitalisation to improve education since 2018. In 2023 the funding was increased significantly by the National Growth Fund: €560M to invest in the digital transformation of the 107 public institutes. This is the cooperation programme branded “Npuls”. After the first years, we have gathered some valuable insights, which we are using to prepare our “second phase”, starting in September ‘25.

With Npuls, the HEIs in the Netherlands and the ministry of education, take a unique approach: facilitating change by providing tools, resources, and frameworks without dictating educational content. At the heart of the “Npuls-approach” is the belief in shared goals, open knowledge exchange between institutions, and a commitment to continuous improvement. Furtermore, we believe that this will strengthen our ability to stick to public values in education and regain control over data. In our approach to cooperating in this complex multi-stakeholder playing field we use insights from the research into how transitions in society happen and can be accelerated.

During this session, we’ll delve into some key questions: If we, as a collective of the educational institutes, want to promise each learner “learning without (administrative) barriers” and “continuously the best education” - what should we offer them? What does that mean for teachers, teaching& learning centres, it-departments and the executive boards?

In the Netherlands, we have experimented and learned valuable lessons on how we can facilitate and institutionalise change on a national level, while leaving the autonomy of the Educational institutes to decide on their own educational policies intact. This brings us closer to the promise of ‘learning without barriers’ and ‘continuously the best education’. However, as soon as the learner wishes to cross a national border, we see that the barriers still exist: what can we do to deliver on these promises on a European level?

This isn't a formal presentation; it’s an open discussion where you’ll hear about the practicalities of this large-scale national effort; the gains and the boundaries it brings. Come prepared to ask questions, share your own experiences, and -hopefully- leave with more understanding on how a strategic, coordinated approach to large-scale educational transformation can be implemented to achieve societal change.