UNIC HEI Award 2025: Two Outstanding Courses Recognised for Inclusive Higher Education

This year, the Awarding Committee decided to recognise two courses, which achieved the same highest evaluation score, reflecting the exceptional quality and impact of both initiatives. The UNIC HEI Award celebrates innovative and inclusive teaching practices that promote diversity, equity, and meaningful student engagement across the UNIC alliance.

🏆 Award Winners 2025

Diversity, Inclusion and the Future of Work

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam

Course coordinator: Dr. Chintan Kella

This course was recognised for its deeply reflective and experiential approach to teaching superdiversity, inclusion and the future of work. By combining rigorous academic design with community-engaged learning, students are encouraged to critically examine lived experiences of diversity in superdiverse urban contexts.

The course stands out for its inclusive assessment methods, offering students multiple multimedia formats to express their learning in ways that align with their strengths and accessibility needs. Through direct engagement with communities and stakeholders, students develop a nuanced understanding of identity, privilege and societal structures, making inclusion not only a theoretical concept but a lived learning experience.

Summer School on Migration and International Protection in the Global Context

A joint UNIC programme

Course coordinators:

• Professor Goranka Lalić Novak, Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb
• Associate Professor Teo Giljević, Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb
• Associate Professor David Fernández-Rojo, Faculty of Law, University of Deusto
• Assistant Professor Gustavo de la Orden Bosch, Faculty of Law, University of Deusto
• Assistant Professor Karolina Mendecka, Faculty of Law and Public Administration, University of Łódź

This jointly developed UNIC Summer School was recognised for its strong inter-university collaboration and its integration of inclusive teaching with comparative legal and policy analysis. The programme brings together students and lecturers from several UNIC universities and combines classroom-based learning with practice-oriented activities.

A distinctive feature of the Summer School is its close cooperation with institutional and civil society actors, including international organisations, local authorities, NGOs and individuals with lived experience of migration and integration. This approach enables students to critically examine international protection systems through direct engagement with practitioners and affected communities, enriching both academic analysis and student learning.

What’s next?

All awardees will receive a UNIC Digital Badge and Certificate recognising their contribution to inclusive higher education within the alliance.

In January, the UNIC team will publish a series of short interviews with the award winners on the UNIC website and social media channels.

The UNIC Alliance warmly congratulates all awardees and thanks them for their commitment to fostering inclusive, innovative and collaborative teaching practices across Europe.