An international cooperation project by Harz University of Applied Sciences to promote future skills, strategic internationalization, and global employability.
Work and everyday life are increasingly characterised by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. Under these conditions, specialist knowledge alone is no longer sufficient to remain successful and capable of acting in the long term. What is needed are interdisciplinary skills, international experience and the ability to deal constructively with change.
The Skill Up 4 Future project addresses this development. The aim is to prepare students and university staff for a globalised world of work, to strategically expand international partnerships and to anchor future skills sustainably in teaching, studies, and university structures.
The network meetings of the four partner universities serve to systematically intensify cooperation and promote scientific and intercultural exchange. Meetings are planned twice a year during the course of the project, each of which will take place virtually and in person.
The peer learning groups are a key instrument of the project for promoting professional, intercultural, and institutional exchange. They enable structured peer-to-peer dialogue between teachers, staff and central institutions such as the Career Service, the Language Center and the International Office, and contribute to university-wide internationalisation.
An Entrepreneurship Semester (ESS) has been offered at Harz University of Applied Sciences since 2023 and teaches key entrepreneurial and interdisciplinary skills. To make the program available to international students, content needs to be adapted, designed, and piloted for an English-language, internationally oriented format.
The project involves the development of innovative teaching formats for German as a foreign language (DaF) in close cooperation between Harz University of Applied Sciences and Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences. The aim is to make learning German more attractive through digital and practical approaches and to strengthen the interest of international students in studying at Harz University of Applied Sciences.
Skill Up 4 Future Week is an international project week for students at Harz University of Applied Sciences and partner universities. It brings together participants from several European countries and promotes collaborative learning and intercultural exchange.
In the final project year, the International Week brings together key networking activities on the topic of future skills. It combines the concluding network meeting with thematic input from the peer learning groups and structured matchmaking formats to initiate further international collaborations.
