EKA’s participation in the European University Alliance Transform4Europe (T4EU) has created new opportunities for students, academic staff, and employees in recent years, while opening up fresh avenues of collaboration for the academy across Europe.
For EKA, T4EU is not merely an international cooperation project, but an integral part of the academy’s long-term development and international presence. Over the past five years, T4EU has brought nearly €1.7 million in funding to EKA. According to Rector Hilkka Hiiop, at a time when European education funding is increasingly directed toward STEM fields, it is especially important to belong to a European university network that helps keep the role of art and creativity visible and influential in shaping Europe’s future.
This strategic cooperation also takes very concrete form in joint teaching and development projects. T4EU creates opportunities for academic staff and researchers to engage in international collaboration, the outcomes of which are reflected, for example, in shared curriculum development initiatives. A recent example, launched with seed funding, is the project “Designing Spaces and Experiences for Well-being: Bridging Psychology and Design.” The project brings together psychology and design students in international teams to prototype interventions in public spaces in Estonia and Portugal, aiming to support mental well-being, a sense of safety, and self-regulation through design.
Such collaborative curriculum development functions as a kind of experimental laboratory, with the goal of establishing long-term and sustainable cooperation with partner universities while enriching the learning experience of session-based students. Participants gain experience working across disciplines and cultural contexts, and jointly explore how psychological research and studies on mental well-being can inform and guide concrete design decisions.
One of the project initiators, Associate Professor Ionel Lehari, Head of the Design and Innovation programme, highlights the importance of its interdisciplinary nature: “Some of the most ingenious solutions to today’s global challenges are often found at the intersections of different fields.” Project manager and instructional designer Marleen Soosaar adds: “Jointly planned teaching formats like this hold significant value, enabling universities to experiment together and strengthen cooperation, while offering students meaningful experiences that complement one-off learning activities. The blended learning format, combining two intensive workshops, is also more accessible for session-based students, as it does not require prolonged absence from their everyday commitments.”
In 2025, EKA organized several international activities within the T4EU framework, bringing students and academic staff from partner universities, as well as guests from various countries, to EKA. In addition, EKA students and staff participated in educational and collaborative activities hosted by T4EU partner institutions across Europe. For example, T4EU Week offers students an excellent opportunity to take part in international learning and cooperation activities alongside peers from partner universities throughout Europe. The next T4EU Week will take place in Lisbon from 25–29 May, and the full programme will be announced soon. More information about previous T4EU Weeks can be found here.
In 2025, EKA organized the following activities within the T4EU framework:
- a summer school
- a science café
- a podcast series
- a science communication course
- a creative research roundtable
- an alumni discussion event, “What Comes After EKA?”
At the beginning of 2026, EKA hosted the international conference “Spatial Dimensions in Heritage: Creative Research Capacities,” bringing together researchers and creative practitioners from several European countries. Running in parallel with the conference was the BIP “Digital Archaeology in Search of the Ephemeral | Creative Research Capacities.” As in previous years, the organization of science cafés, courses, podcasts, and other activities will continue throughout the year.
Transform4Europe (T4EU) is a European University Alliance established in 2020, bringing together ten higher education institutions with the aim of developing and strengthening cooperation in education, research, and innovation. EKA is a member of this international network, which creates new learning and mobility opportunities for students and supports collaboration among academic staff and employees across Europe. The project is funded by the European Union’s Erasmus+ programme.
