Understand HEInnovate & the 8 Dimensions

Get an overview of the HEInnovate framework and its eight dimensions. These resources help you grasp the core principles of HEInnovate and provide clear explanations of each dimension.

Guidance notes

Each statement in the self-assessment has a corresponding guidance note. These notes explain what the statement is looking at and provide examples of how institutions can address it.

Country reviews

These reports analyse the higher education system of a specific country through the lens of the HEInnovate framework. They were conducted by the OECD in partnership with the European Commission between 2015 and 2021.

Get inspired by other HEIs

Learn from the experiences of higher education institutions across Europe. Explore case studies that showcase diverse practices and provide inspiration across the eight HEInnovate dimensions. Find testimonials that illustrate how institutions are using HEInnovate in practice. Discover real-life lessons and outcomes.

Case Studies

You can view and download case studies that showcase different institutional approaches and good practices along the eight dimensions of HEInnovate.

User Stories

Read about the different uses and experiences of higher education institutions using the HEinnovate framework. The user stories also highlight lessons learnt and results achieved.

Implement HEInnovate in your institution

Support for you and your institution to work with the HEInnovate framework in a structured, collaborative way. Workshop Guides and Training Materials help you plan, deliver, and follow up on workshops of all sizes.

Training manual

A comprehensive guide to HEInnovate. It explains the features of the website, how to set up groups, and describes three types of workshops you can run.

Workshop guides

Short chapters from the Training Manual with focused advice on how to run different types of workshops, set the agenda, and decide whom to invite.

Turn insights into action

Transform your HEInnovate results into practical next steps. These tools help institutions prioritise actions, engage teams, and move from assessment to implementation,  to ensure continuous, meaningful improvement.

Action cards

Concise cards summarising practical actions aligned with each HEInnovate dimension. Use them to spark discussions and identify priorities.

Planning templates

Visual tools and worksheets to document goals, map short- to long-term actions, and organise activities into work packages. Includes the Action Planning Board, Work Package Planning Board, and Action Sheet.

All resources

  • Case studies
  • Contains controls to share this content on social networks or by email.Share this page
Submitted on:
23 Jun 2025
Country:
Netherlands, Estonia, Czech Republic
Area of discipline:
Information And Communication Technology

This comparative case study examines how Delft University of Technology (Netherlands), Czech Technical University (Czechia), and the University of Tartu (Estonia) are integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into teaching, learning, and research. Each institution has developed AI-specific programmes, research centres, and staff training to build...

  • Case studies
  • Contains controls to share this content on social networks or by email.Share this page
Submitted on:
23 Jun 2025
Country:
Slovenia
Area of discipline:
Medical and Life Sciences

The Biotechnical Faculty at the University of Ljubljana (UL) promotes entrepreneurial thinking among students and staff through both curricular and extra-curricular activities. Key courses include Entrepreneurship for master’s students and Bioeconomy, which covers commercialization and business modelling. Extra-curricular activities include a...

  • Case studies
  • Contains controls to share this content on social networks or by email.Share this page
Submitted on:
23 Jun 2025
Country:
Belgium
Area of discipline:
Education

The Smart Education at Schools (SEATS) programme, part of the Smart Education Research Programme led by imec and the KU Leuven itec group, helps Flemish teachers develop tech-based solutions to educational challenges. Teachers submit project proposals, and selected ideas receive €75,000 to be co-developed with schools, researchers, and industry...

  • Case studies
  • Contains controls to share this content on social networks or by email.Share this page
Submitted on:
16 Jan 2025

The European Bioeconomy University (EBU) is an alliance of eight higher education institutions (HEIs) with a dedicated focus on the bioeconomy. The institutions are from different European countries: Austria, France, Germany, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden. The bioeconomy is that part of the economy that is concerned with the...

  • Case studies
  • Contains controls to share this content on social networks or by email.Share this page
Submitted on:
16 Jan 2025

Business incubators have long been integral to higher education, fostering strong connections between universities and regional business sectors. This comparative case study, part of the HEInnovate initiative, explores the establishment and operation of incubators to support entrepreneurs and innovators in collaboration with higher education...

  • Case studies
  • Contains controls to share this content on social networks or by email.Share this page
Submitted on:
16 Jan 2025

The University of Antwerp (UAntwerp) has entrepreneurship as an explicit educational priority. It is a member of the Young Universities for the Future of Europe European University Alliance (YUFE). The University sees an urgent need to reform doctoral education to deliver more entrepreneurial graduates equipped with open science competences and to...

  • Case studies
  • Contains controls to share this content on social networks or by email.Share this page
Submitted on:
16 Jan 2025

Heilbronn University of Applied Sciences (HHN) is a relatively young higher education institution in one of Germany's economically most dynamic regions. Entrepreneurship, responsible entrepreneurship, in particular, is one of HHN’s strategic objectives. In 2017, HHN founded Startklar, a central coordination unit with the mission to strengthen...

  • Case studies
  • Contains controls to share this content on social networks or by email.Share this page
Submitted on:
09 Jan 2025
Country:
Sweden

Lund University (LU) is located close to a science park in a region with numerous incubators and start-ups in a rather densely populated area. The University uses its strategic location as a source of competitive advantage by strongly collaborating with local established companies, start-ups, student organisations, support services and incubators...

  • Case studies
  • Contains controls to share this content on social networks or by email.Share this page
Submitted on:
09 Aug 2024

This comparative case study focuses on interventions undertaken by two HEIs – Grenoble Institute of Technology and Luleå University of Technology – to address the goal of connecting with the ecosystem and creating effective collaborations with the regional business sector. To connect themselves with their external ecosystem and the regional...

  • Case studies
  • Contains controls to share this content on social networks or by email.Share this page
Submitted on:
09 Aug 2024

Head, hands and heart (HHH) is a recent approach that entrepreneurship educators can use as a framework to design, run and evaluate their courses in a holistic manner. HHH offers the opportunity to evaluate students’ cognitive, practical and emotional capabilities, extending traditional approaches that consider mainly cognitive aspects – knowledge...

  • Case studies
  • Contains controls to share this content on social networks or by email.Share this page
Submitted on:
08 Aug 2024
Country:
Spain

The Autonomous University of Barcelona (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, UAB), founded in 1968, is one of seven higher education institutions located in the metropolitan area of Barcelona. It is centred in the heart of Catalonia, one of Spain’s most dynamic and entrepreneurial regions. UAB is one of the top three universities in Spain. Within the...

  • Case studies
  • Contains controls to share this content on social networks or by email.Share this page
Submitted on:
08 Aug 2024
Country:
Slovakia
Area of discipline:
Business and Economics

At Comenius University Bratislava (CU), the Department of Strategy and Entrepreneurship offers the course “Development of Entrepreneurial Skills in Cross Generation Teams”. It is a semester-long course where seniors and undergraduate students work together in teams on real-life businesses. The idea is not only to provide instructions but to...

  • Case studies
  • Contains controls to share this content on social networks or by email.Share this page
Submitted on:
08 Aug 2024
Country:
Germany

This introductory chapter provides an update on the Leuphana University of Lüneburg’s approach to entrepreneurship, representing the status at the end of 2023. The original case study, comprising the ensuing chapters 12.1 – 12.6, which remain unchanged, was written in 2015. Since then, Leuphana has developed its entrepreneurial profile further. It...

  • Case studies
  • Contains controls to share this content on social networks or by email.Share this page
Submitted on:
08 Aug 2024
Country:
Denmark

Aalborg University (AAU), established in 1974, emphasises entrepreneurship as a core strategy, offering extensive support and resources to students. The institution is renowned for its problem-based learning approach, fostering independent, real-life problem-solving skills aligned with entrepreneurial competencies. Internationalisation is a...

  • Case studies
  • Contains controls to share this content on social networks or by email.Share this page
Submitted on:
08 Aug 2024

A Junior Enterprise (JE) is a non-profit organisation formed and managed exclusively by university students. Junior Enterprises operate at the local level and are associated with a university. Students in JEs provide services for businesses, institutions and individuals. They are knowledge labs within academic institutions where the latest...