Driving change in Higher Education: Labs4Change showcases its impact on equality, diversity and Social Innovation

Driving change in Higher Education: Labs4Change showcases its impact on equality, diversity and Social Innovation

Higher education must move beyond theory and embrace transformative action. Over the past 23 months, the Labs4Change – Social Innovation Labs for the Promotion of Equality, Diversity and Non-Discrimination in Higher Education Institutions project, co-funded by the European Union, has built a collaborative learning and open innovation network across higher education institutions (HEIs), helping to dismantle structural gender barriers while fostering more diverse, accessible and inclusive learning environments

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By combining online training, participatory needs assessments and the creation of Living Labs, the project has demonstrated that meaningful institutional change is achievable when learning by doing and social justice are placed at the heart of education.

Following months of collaborative work involving universities, students and local stakeholders, Labs4Change is now entering its final phase. It is time to share the project's achievements and ensure that the knowledge generated continues to create lasting impact.

Building capacity for change

Social innovation consultancy 2811 led a series of training initiatives throughout the project:

• Online Webinar Series for University Staff: 33 academics, researchers and higher education professionals from five countries received specialist training in diversity, inclusion and gender-responsive methodologies.
• Beyond Gender Academy (1 ECTS / 24 hours): This online learning programme brought together 216 changemakers—including 169 students and 47 university professionals. Across four weeks, participants explored the intersections between gender, climate, the economy and participatory approaches, developing innovative ideas that later informed the project's Living Labs.

Participatory assessments and an international expert network

The next stage involved three participatory assessments carried out across the partner universities, facilitated by social innovation consultancy Dinamia. These collaborative studies identified key structural barriers and inequalities affecting inclusion within university communities.

To support the design of institutional responses, an international network of experts from three countries was established. Working alongside universities and students, the network co-created context-sensitive solutions grounded in gender equality and intersectionality.

17 Living Labs driving open innovation

Multidisciplinary teams made up of students, academic staff and external stakeholders established 17 Living Labs across the consortium.

Defined by ENoLL as "open innovation ecosystems where different stakeholders collaborate to experiment with and improve solutions in real-life settings to generate sustainable impact", these Living Labs engaged more than 177 participants, including 85 students, 51 university staff members and 41 external stakeholders.

Examples of Living Labs across the consortium include:

TU Dortmund University (Germany)

• Long-term mentoring programme creating intergenerational mentoring partnerships.
• Internal Equality Indicators Auditors initiative, training researchers to monitor institutional equality and inclusion metrics.

University of Thessaly (Greece)

• Accessible Campus Map, co-designed to identify and remove physical and sensory barriers across campus.
• English Academic Support Programme for migrant and refugee students, improving linguistic and academic inclusion.

Mondragon Unibertsitatea (Basque Country, Spain)

• Student-Led Care and Equity Training Model, promoting peer learning around gender justice.
• Pedagogical Tool for Analysing Productive and Reproductive (Care) Roles, helping entrepreneurial and cooperative teams better understand and redistribute both visible and invisible workloads.

International in-person events

The project began with a consortium meeting in Berlin, where partners officially launched their collaboration. More recently, the final event took place in Volos, Greece, bringing together students, researchers and university staff to present project outcomes, prototypes and stories of impact.

Participants also carried out a feminist urban assessment in the city of Thessaly and took part in an open innovation session with a local organisation supporting women affected by gender-based violence.

A practical legacy: The Labs4Change Methodology Toolkit

One of the project's most significant outcomes is the Labs4Change Methodology Toolkit, a practical collection of 11 field-tested methods addressing equality, diversity, non-discrimination and social innovation within higher education.

Each methodology has been developed and validated through the project's Living Labs, conferences and Beyond Gender Academy activities. The Toolkit is freely available through the project website, enabling universities and organisations to select and adapt the methods that best meet their own institutional challenges.

Knowledge transfer and communication activities will continue throughout July and August, ensuring that the project's evidence and learning reach new educational communities and inform future public policies.

Join us

Creating a more feminist, inclusive and equitable higher education system requires strong partnerships.

We invite you to explore the Labs4Change Toolkit, discover the Living Labs, and become part of a growing network committed to transforming higher education.

Visit our website and download the full Toolkit today. https://labs4change.org/en/toolkit/

 

About Labs4Change

Labs4Change is funded by the Erasmus+ Programme under Grant Agreement 2024-1-ES01-KA220-HED-000248544. Running from 1 September 2024 to 31 August 2026, the project has a total EU co-funded budget of €400,000 and brings together leading organisations from Spain, Greece and Germany to develop innovative tools and frameworks that tackle systemic inequalities and promote more inclusive higher education practices.