New Hanze strategic plan: We make the future together

What will learning look like thirty years from now? Will the campus as we know it today still exist, or will we be learning and researching out in society? There is no unequivocal answer, and there is no need for one. The world is constantly evolving, and we are evolving along with it. In our new strategic plan We make the future together, we show what we have committed ourselves to in the next six years.

Foto: Stella Dekker

The challenges of today and tomorrow

We see major shifts coming our way: shrinkage and ageing in the region, declining student numbers and shortages in technology, healthcare and education. Inequality is growing, while transitions in the areas of circularity, energy, care and health are becoming increasingly urgent. At the same time, there are rapid advances in technology, such as AI, which are radically changing our education and the professional field. Developments that require a new way of learning, collaborating and innovating. 

Remaining meaningful in a changing world

As a knowledge institute in the Northern Netherlands, we train the professionals of tomorrow and strengthen the region with knowledge, innovation, art and creativity. We put that mission into practice every day. Yet change is needed. Not in the essence of who we are and what we do, but in how we do it. So that we remain relevant in a rapidly changing world and deliver the quality we stand for, and so that we maintain and strengthen the appreciation of students, professionals and partners. Our promise to them: development-oriented learning, leading practice-oriented research with visible impact, and interdisciplinary collaboration in innovation hubs on the issues of today and the future. This promise comes together in the Hanze Educational Concept. 

Power of collaboration: strategic plan

How will we be working on this and what will be our focus in the next six years? This is reflected in our strategic plan: We make the future together. The core: we are firmly committed to collaboration, both internally in the organisation and with our environment. We will focus on structurally embedding institutional partnerships in our organisation. In addition, we will focus on the further development of our innovation hubs as the way to work together with the professional practice on concrete solutions to social issues. Across the boundaries of teams, disciplines and buildings. It goes without saying that we also pay explicit attention to AI, both in our education and in our way of working. 

Agile and decisive organisation

In order to achieve our ambitions, we are making our organisation more compact and agile. We bring education, research and the professional field closer together so that we can respond more quickly to developments in our environment. 

"Society counts on us for knowledge and solutions to urgent social issues. Students expect an education that matches this, and the professional field looks to us for future-oriented professionals. This requires a flat, decisive organisation in which we work together with students and our environment on the challenges of tomorrow," says Dick Pouwels, Chairman of the Executive Board.

Since 1 January, our organisation has been organised into six thematic clusters:

• Entrepreneurship, Communication & Marketing  
• Business & Law
• Health, Care & Vitality
• Well-being, Education & Sport 
• Arts, Design & Built Environment
• Engineering, Life Sciences & ICT

and three supporting clusters:

1. Advice, Policy & Quality
2. Real Estate & Facilities
3. Business Support & IT

In the period ahead, we will continue to build a future-oriented knowledge institute together.