ENHANCE at FOREU4ALL's 2nd Workshop
In mid-April, around 140 impact leads, project managers, policymakers, and academics from across European University Alliances gathered in Granada, Spain, for the second FOREU4ALL workshop — a two-day deep dive into one of the most pressing challenges facing the European Universities Initiative today: how to align project management and impact assessment in a meaningful, strategic way.
Hosted by our fellow European University Alliance Arqus at the Universidad de Granada, the event brought together a diverse community of alliance professionals united by a shared question: how do we pursue long-term ambition within a short-term framework?
A programme built around dialogue
The workshop opened with a keynote panel moderated by Lucie Hunter (FOREU4ALL), exploring how monitoring and impact assessment can move beyond compliance and become a genuine strategic driver — one that keeps alliances focused on mission and ambition rather than deliverables alone. Panel members included Caroline Censier-Calmus from the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation; Jan Palmowski, Secretary-General of The Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities; and Antonin Charret, Research Fellow at the University of Oxford.
Across sessions, several themes emerged as potential pathways forward: trust-based monitoring, storytelling as a tool for communicating impact, and a culture of reflection over competition. Importantly, participants also underlined that unintended impacts deserve attention — they carry their own messages about what alliances are truly doing and how.
A strong thread throughout the two days was the human dimension of alliance work. Discussions surfaced the need for dedicated onboarding and training programmes that equip staff with the skills required to operate across project, alliance, and policy levels simultaneously — and the urgent need for proper recognition of the value that these professionals bring.
ENHANCE's contribution
ENHANCE was represented across multiple dimensions of the workshop. Melih Özkardes, Ombudsman for Diversity and Head of the ENHANCE Diversity Office, served as a facilitator for a training session on diversity and inclusion, bringing ENHANCE's expertise directly into the programme. Györgyi Turoczy, participated from the ENHANCE project management side, contributing her experience to the broader cross-alliance dialogue.
Hannah Worringer, our ENHANCE Senior Project Officer Quality and Impact, played a particularly central role — not only as a member of the FOREU4ALL organising team, but also as a workshop facilitator, guiding participants through how data collection and analysis can better support the alignment of project management and impact work.
Reflecting on the experience, she shared:
Looking ahead
The FOREU4ALL community is growing, and the questions it is grappling with are only becoming more relevant. ENHANCE remains committed to contributing actively — in working groups, in facilitation, and in shaping a European university landscape that is as attentive to the people driving change as it is to the outcomes they deliver.
Learn more about the FOREU4ALL initiative and the Granada workshop at eventos.ugr.es/foreu4all-granada-workshop.
