URL celebrates the “Impact Day – ENGAGE.EU” event

Two round tables were then held. The first, “ENGAGE.EU Impact Narratives”, was moderated by Cristina Giménez, director of Identity and Mission at Esade-URL and coordinator of the ENGAGE.EU Dissemination and Impact working group, and featured contributions from Nohaila El Mouden, PhD candidate in Economic and Business Law at Esade-URL; Helen Ruiz, professor at the Faculty of Psychology, Education and Sport Sciences Blanquerna-URL; and Arianna Andino, student in the MSc in Project Management at La Salle-URL.

In her introduction to the session, Giménez explained that it is not enough to measure the impact of an initiative; it must be transformed into “Impact Narratives,” which make it possible to “render visible the chain of change: activities, evidence, learning, and benefits for the different stakeholders.” The participants shared their experiences with ENGAGE.EU and the opportunities the alliance has provided. For example, El Mouden received funding through the ENGAGE.EU research label  to organize the ENGAGE.EU Doctoral Conference; Helen Ruiz was able to develop a project to create an online collaborative learning course through the ENGAGE.EU Academic Initiative Incubator; and Andino participated in the ENGAGE.EU Student Conference at Tilburg University, organized by students from the alliance.

In the second round table, “ENGAGE.EU as a driver of innovation to address social challenges”, participants included Josep Alias, Manager of the ESADE Entrepreneurship Institute (EEI); Roser Grau, IQS Tech Factory Manager; Cristina Clotet, Director of Projects at Barcelona Global; and Joan-Andreu Rocha, advisor to the management of the Vidal i Barraquer University Institute of Mental Health. The session was moderated by Laia Ros, general manager of URL.

The participants—members of the university’s innovation, entrepreneurship, and knowledge transfer institutes, and Associate Partners of URL within ENGAGE.EU—reflected on how to connect universities, businesses, civil society, the media, and public administration to generate impactful solutions locally. They also discussed “Innovation Pathways,” understood as structured processes that transform real social challenges into solutions applied in the territory through a co-creation process involving these stakeholders. They did so by reviewing examples of ENGAGE.EU initiatives and reflecting on how to align this system with the impact agendas of each of the actors involved.

Finally, the workshop “How can ENGAGE.EU generate greater impact in the local and European community?” was held, where participants from diverse backgrounds collectively reflected on this question. The outcomes were later presented to all attendees. The event concluded with a networking session.