Where we are now
If one thing becomes clear from this report, it is that our university is working across the board to realise its impact ambitions. Much has been accomplished. Within all schools, services and in our strategic alliances, and of course through great efforts of many people in our community, we see huge efforts in making our impact ambitions happen. We have been able to boost our ability to create impact, as is proven by the many inspiring examples of (engaged and mission-driven) research, impact-driven education and authentic engagement with the Rotterdam community, our institutional partners, the wider region, and internationally. And there are many more as important, inspiring and wonderful stories to tell, both on enabling impact and achieving impact, that we unfortunately could not include in the report this time.
All these different activities represent a powerful palette of pathways to societal impact, ranging from stirring up entrepreneurship and knowledge valorisation to outreach programmes enhancing access and equity and from establishing different collaborative platforms with Rotterdam stakeholders to boosting open and responsible science.
Furthermore, we now understand much better what creating impact means and what it entails. We know how to translate this into our support services, our way of recognising and rewarding our staff, our way of educating our students and more. This report shows how multifaceted the transition towards a fully impact-driven university is, impacting all facets of our university.
At the same time, much can and must be done to complete this transition. The job is not yet done, and our destination is not yet reached. The current financial situation seems to force universities to take a step back, but above all, I am convinced that they ask us to take a step forward into the direction of a really engaged university. And therefore, even when we have to stop certain initiatives, we will persevere to complete the journey we embarked on. This report comprises many lessons that will help us how to do so.
Given the complexity of the challenges society is facing, our unique profile at the boundaries of the social sciences and humanities on one hand and the medical sciences on the other makes us an indispensable knowledge partner, especially when we join forces with the technical sciences as we currently do within Convergence and LDE. Moreover, positioned within a superdiverse city that finds itself in a challenging transition process, EUR is perfectly at home as lead partner of UNIC.
At the same time, a strong focus on impact and engagement becomes increasingly relevant because as EUR we must find other sources of income, given the diminished public funds for research and education. Being engaged is indispensable to build productive relationships with society, to enhance our attractiveness for future students and to stay relevant to society. All these elements are vitally importance to ensure our license to operate as a university.
This can also pose several challenges to our own organisation. We must not only offer our EUR community the necessary resources and support but also back them up when needed. And, in facilitating inter- and transdisciplinary collaboration, we must soften the institutional boundaries that now hamper our ability to respond to societal demands. Focusing on impact and engagement also asks us to further invest in our stakeholder networks, appropriate supports for impact and engagement, attractive career possibilities, and our ability to align our own agenda to the needs of society while simultaneously guarding our academic freedom, our curiosity and our academic reputation.
As EUR we want to take our societal responsibility seriously, fully aligned with our Erasmian values. That also means that we must make our rules of engagement more explicit as well as the values we hold in collaborations It also asks us to rethink our role as a socially responsible institution: as an employer, a developer, a buyer, a property owner and a partner of the city.
In conclusion, much has already been achieved but the road ahead may be even longer than the one we have already travelled. This first Impact Report will thus be followed up, and we invite all our partners, staff and students to join us on this journey.
Prof. Arwin van Buuren,
Strategic Dean Impact & Engagement
Rotterdam, September 2024