Parallell sessions – Global Impact Forum
Across these parallel sessions, we spotlight how co-creation, innovation, and technology transfer turn ideas into real-world impact.
Powered by Curiosity - It´s Time to Change the Game
If we want students to enter their future lives as curious explorers, bold thinkers, creative contributors, and shapers of society, the academy must embody and model the same mindset. Without purposeful curiosity, universities risk becoming static rather than vibrant environments for discovery, innovation, and societal relevance. Here, curiosity becomes a transformative academic force. This workshop is an invitation to activate purposeful curiosity. Through creative exploration and interactive design methods, we co-create a map of academy’s curiosity landscape – its flows, blockages, gaps, and emerging possibilities. Together we move from insight to experience and define actions that will infuse purposeful curiosity into culture, structures, and everyday practice. The aim is clear but urgent – we must reshape the landscape so curiosity becomes a force that is lived, felt, and contagious.
Mia Sas, Program Coordinator and Lecturer in Spatial Design – Information Design, IHI, MDU
Virginia Kallia, lecturer in Spatial Design – Information Design, IHI, MDU.
Mia Sas, Lecturer in Spatial Design – Information Design
Virginia Kallia, lecturer in Spatial Design – Information Design
From research to innovations and impact: MDU Innovation way of working with research commercialization
MDU Innovation is MDU’s innovation office that supports researchers and students in idea and business development, especially focusing on creating impact and spin-offs from research.
As a newly established innovation office, we’ve had the opportunity to set up operations that are aligned with strategy and research base at MDU, as well as with the contemporary development and needs of industry and society.
At this session we will talk about how we support researchers, from the first meeting to a commercial solution. We will talk about the tools we use related to IPR, verification projects, concept development and financing, as well as our Research-to-Impact program. We will also cover what we see as critical issues to achieve impact and innovations from research and competence at the university.
Heini Karlström, Innovation Advisor, MDU.
Peter Stany, Business Developer, MDU.
Heini Karlström, Innovation Advisor
Peter Stany, Business Developer
What Are Universities For? Rethinking Impact, Rigour, and Relevance
This session revisits the historical role of universities as institutions dedicated to generating knowledge of societal value, with a particular emphasis on their longstanding contribution to industrial and economic development. We argue that this mission has been partially eroded as universities, particularly in the social sciences, have prioritised academic prestige and narrow performance metrics over engagement with external stakeholders.
Drawing on concrete examples, the session demonstrates how high-quality, theoretically rigorous research can also deliver substantial value for society, industry, and governance, particularly through models of knowledge co-production that involve close collaboration between researchers and practitioners.
We also reflect on contrasting models of the university and the business school - including the professional school, social science school, and liberal arts–inspired school—and discuss how each frames the purpose of research, teaching, and external engagement differently. The session invites discussion on how universities might rebalance rigour, relevance, and responsibility in contemporary research practice.
Chris Ivory is Professor of Innovation Management at Mälardalen University.
Chris Ivory, Professor of Innovation Management
Turning Complexity into Capacity: Regional Quadruple Helix Responses to Global Challenges
Workshop led by Anja Ankelius, Collaboration Coordinator MDU and Maria Nordling, Region Västmanland. Please note starting time 15.30…bring coffee to the room!
This workshop is designed to bring together representatives from regional development offices connected to the SUNRISE partner universities across Europe.
The session will focus on how regions can strategically leverage international university alliances and innovation environments to strengthen regional development, competitiveness, and the twin green and digital transition. The format will be interactive and discussion-driven, enabling participants to exchange experiences and identify concrete opportunities for collaboration.
The workshop aims to create a platform for interregional dialogue and collaboration, with a focus on:
- Exchange of best practices in regional development and innovation policy.
- Exploration of joint interregional initiatives (e.g. Regional Innovation Valleys).
- Development of common seminars, thematic platforms, and future joint conferences.
- Strengthening regional innovation ecosystems through international academic partnerships.
For Regional Development Representatives the workshop provides a unique entry point into a well-established European university network with strong innovation capabilities. Participation enables you to connect with peer regions across Europe, gain insights into effective policy approaches, and identify partners for future collaboration. It also creates opportunities to position your region within emerging European initiatives, strengthen your international partnerships, and enhance your capacity to attract funding and talent through coordinated efforts with academia.
For universities within the SUNRISE consortium this workshop offers a concrete opportunity to deepen engagement with your regional ecosystem. By inviting a representative from your regional development office, you create a direct interface between academic excellence and regional policy and implementation capacity. This strengthens the alignment between your university’s international collaborations and the strategic priorities of your region, enabling more impactful participation in European initiatives, joint projects, and innovation-driven growth.
Anja Akelius, Collaboration Coordinator
Maria Nordling, Project Manager Green Twin Leadership, Region Västmanland
AI-Write: A collaborative EU project for higher education
The AI Write project, funded by Erasmus+, was developed in response to the pedagogical, ethical, and societal challenges created by the rapid rise of generative AI.
It is grounded in two central insights. First, writing remains essential to academic development, but the nature of writing skills is evolving. Students must learn to engage in AI-augmented writing by collaborating with AI tools to plan, draft, revise, and reflect
on their writing. Second, AI will remain a permanent feature of education and
professional contexts, making it essential for higher education to prepare students to use these technologies responsibly.
In this session, we will introduce the AI Write project and its overall pedagogical design, highlighting the principles that have guided its development. We will discuss the
creation of the 21 Open Educational Resources for academic writing, with particular attention to how they support students/writers in developing eJective, ethical, and reflective AI-assisted writing practices. Participants will also have the opportunity to try
selected OERs firsthand, allowing for practical engagement and discussion.
The session will conclude with an update on the current stage of the project, key insights gained so far, and the next steps.
Elisabeth Wulff-Sahlén, Lecturer in Language Studies and Comparative Literature at Mälardalen University
Joanna Baoumgart, senior lecturer and researcher specializing in TESOL and language pedagogy at Mälardalen University
Sofia Hort, associate senior lecturer and researcher in Swedish with a special interest in literacy at Mälardalen University
Olcay Sert, professor of English Language Education at Mälardalen University
Elisabeth Wulff-Sahlén, Lecturer in Language Studies and Comparative Literature
Joanna Baoumgart, senior lecturer specializing in TESOL
Sofia Hort, associate senior lecturer and researcher in Swedish
Olcay Sert, professor of English Language Education