From 20–22 April, the Future Competencies team (ENHANCE+ WP4) gathered at Delft University of Technology for a three-day working meeting. The agenda combined focused project development with a visit to The Green Village to explore potential collaboration, and a session dedicated to mapping the competencies our projects foster — helping identify gaps and inform the next stage of the ENHANCE+ project.
Initiatives in Development
Five projects aimed at equipping learners with Future Skills are currently underway across ENHANCE:
AI in Collaborative Learning (lead: Nayantara Thomas, TU Delft) investigates how AI tools can meaningfully support student teamwork, reflection, and collaborative skill development across diverse university contexts.
Engineering for Impact (lead: Martine Rutten, TU Berlin) develops a 6 ECTS hybrid course in which students from across the ENHANCE network work in interdisciplinary teams to design technology-based solutions to current societal challenges.
ENHANCE JIP+ (lead: Annie Aggarwal, TU Delft) seeks to expand TU Delft's Joint Interdisciplinary Project to other ENHANCE partner universities. JIP is a 15 ECTS elective in which interdisciplinary student teams tackle real-world challenges set by external organisations.
ENHAQ+ Hackathon and Co-Creation Bootcamp (lead: Mateusz Kaska, WUT) is an in-person 'bootcamp' hosted at a selected ENHANCE partner university between June and September 2026, bringing together WUT students with ENHANCE Alliance peers to co-design the hackathon's themes, methodology, and challenge tracks, alongside future competencies training.
Teaching Activities for Sustainability and Ethics (lead: Barbara La Cara, ETH Zurich) aims to build a collection of ready-to-use teaching activities that support the development of sustainability and ethics competencies across ENHANCE partner universities.
Collaboration Across Projects
A key goal of the meeting was identifying opportunities for projects to work together. One promising collaboration is already emerging: the AI in Collaborative Learning team is joining forces with ENHAQ+ to explore how AI can support collaboration within student teams — a theme central to both projects. The meeting also made space for connection and culture, with a visit to the Royal Delft Museum and two team dinners.
A warm thank you to all WP4 members for contributing to such a productive and enjoyable event.
Why Future Competencies Matter
The work taking place across WP4 is grounded in a clear challenge: Europe's engineers and scientists are facing complex, interdisciplinary problems that no single discipline can solve alone. As Future Skills lead Grant Penny has argued, this demands not only broader curricula but a fundamental shift in mindset: from monodisciplinary thinking towards transdisciplinary approaches that bring together STEM, the social sciences, and real-world societal stakeholders. Skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, digital literacy, and systems thinking are not optional extras; they are core competencies for navigating the challenges of today and tomorrow. Crucially, the need for institutions to become more agile: in an era of rapid AI development, spending years revising curricula is no longer good enough. Read the full interview with Grant Penny to learn more about the WP4 vision and findings.
