The North West Tertiary Education Cluster recently celebrated, for the second year in a row, recognition at a European level, winning the Professional Higher Education Star Award for Local and Regional Impact at the EURASHE Annual Conference.
This success at the St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences in Austria follows on from winning the equivalent award at the University Politechnica, Bucharest, Hungary in June 2023.
The NWTEC presentation was delivered by Paul Hannigan, Head of College, ATU Donegal; Anne Mc Hugh, Chief Executive, Donegal Education and Training Board; JoAnne Kilmartin, NWTEC Project Officer, ATU Donegal; and Wendy Gibbons, NWTEC Project Officer, North West Regional College. With less than 20% of submitted abstracts securing invitations to present, it was a great honour for NWTEC to achieve this accolade. A total of three awards were presented for EURASHE 2024 contributions in the categories: Applied Research and Innovation; Upskilling, Reskilling, and Future Skills; and Local and Regional Impact. The NWTEC team received their well-earned award from President of EURASHE Hannes Raffaseder, CEO/President St. Pölten, University of Applied Sciences.
The theme for the EURASHE annual conference hosted by St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences in Austri was Stronger Together – Fostering Transitional Cooperation in Applied Universities. EURASHE, the European Association of Institutions in Higher Education was established in 1990 and has been working since to strengthen the sector on national and European levels to support Applied Higher Education. Three purposes were at the origin of EURASHE:
- to promote the interests of Applied Higher Education at national and European level,
- to cooperate internationally on the development of Applied Higher Education,
- to promote internationalisation within its member institutions.
The NWTEC presentation was entitled “Collaborating for a Shared North West, a Connected, High Performing Region”. The presentation highlighted that to further the economic prosperity for the North West City Region (NWCR), encompassing County Donegal and the Derry City and Strabane District Council area, that NWTEC through its member institutions actively engages with the national and international diaspora to ensure the region can accumulate the necessary support and infrastructure for the region to achieve its full potential.