W01: How to transform strategic partnerships through diversity: An impact clinic to diagnose and treat your challenges

09:00 – 12:30 BST, 8 September 2026 ‐ 3 hours 30 mins

Room: Boisdale 1, SEC Centre, Ground floor

Workshop

🎟️ Registration required (paid)
🤝 Workshop (collaborative)
💡 Strategic partnerships | Diversity, equity and inclusion

Despite the widely recognised need for transformative collaborations such as the European university alliances, many higher education institutions struggle to monitor and assess the impact of strategic partnerships. In these transformative change processes, the critical role of diversity is often overlooked. This workshop will address two essential questions for strategic partnerships: how to work effectively with institutional diversity; and how to create, monitor and assess impact. It has been designed as an impact clinic grounded in change methodology to provide a structured, highly interactive and inclusive environment. You will bring in your specific challenges to receive a tailor-made diagnosis and treatment plan.

Learning outcomes

• Develop a better understanding of challenges and underlying tensions within strategic partners;
• Learn how to develop a tailor-made diagnosis and impact process plan to work with institutional diversity and create, monitor and assess impact;
• Take away peer feedback, new trusted networks, actionable guidelines, multiple resources and a first draft of an impact process plan.

Target audience
This workshop is targeted at staff working within strategic partnerships, such as European Universities or global alliances, who have at least five years of experience in higher education and an interest in impact assessment and diversity matters. It is relevant for academic and non-academic staff in a range of roles. The workshop will benefit from a diverse mix of stakeholder roles and levels.

Speakers

Emma Hägg

Karolinska Institutet, Sweden

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Franka van den Hende

University of Groningen, Netherlands

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Emma Hägg

Karolinska Institutet, Sweden

Emma Hägg is international coordinator and communications officer at International Relations Office at Karolinska Institutet, focusing on strategic internationalisation of the university’s study programmes on undergraduate and master's level.
Emma has an educational background in languages, anthropology and communication from universities in Sweden, US and Mexiko. Emma entered the position as international coordinator in August 2018, but has, during her more than 20 years at Karolinska Institutet, had different positions within higher education administration, in project management, internationalisation and communication. 
She currently leads the "Dissemination and Impact" work package for the European University Alliance – NeurotechEU, a new assignment recently added to her portfolio. She recently led the team effort that produced Karolinska Institutet's first language policy.

: emmahagg/

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Franka van den Hende

University of Groningen, Netherlands

Dr. Franka van den Hende
University of Groningen, The Netherlands
Senior policy advisor and researcher
Research Centre for Transformative Education & 
Department of Education and Strategy

Franka is a scholar-practitioner who has been working on internationalization, diversity, and change in higher education since 1992 in multiple roles, varying from researcher, lecturer, director of international strategy and relations, policy advisor, and project manager. Her PhD research was on Curriculum Internationalisation: A Dynamic Organisational Change Process (https://ap.lc/KoUDU). Her main interests are in how to use change theory to work more effectively with international dimensions and diversity in higher education institutions. Her research addresses the impact of (inter and trans)disciplinary contexts and implications for strategy and policy development, and global and local collaborations. Based on organizational change theory, Franka has developed a comprehensive approach with practical guidelines.  She has published several research articles open access in international higher education journals, as well as policy and practice-related articles through the EAIE. Franka has presented her work frequently in national and international platforms and conferences (e.g., in Germany, Japan, ACA, HERDSA, NUFFIC).  

: vandenhende/