TOGETHERNESS

TOGETHERNESS project to strengthen University-Community research partnerships

We are delighted to announce TU Dublin's involvement in a major new Erasmus+ Cooperation Partnership: TOGETHERNESS. The project will create innovative professional development opportunities, educational resources, and partnership models to support collaboration between universities and community organisations, to tackle pressing societal challenges. 

Universities and community organisations increasingly want to work together on research that has meaningful impact. However, challenges such as skill gaps, difficulty finding partners, and maintaining long-term collaborations often stand in the way. TOGETHERNESS aims to overcome these barriers by building skills and creating tools for collaborative research, and embedding stronger long-term connections between universities and communities. 

The TOGETHERNESS project will run from 2025-2028. It will be coordinated by Université Libre de Bruxelles, with partners Sciences Citoyennes, Technological University Dublin, and Università degli Studi di Sassari.  

As Ireland’s representative in the project, TU Dublin will take a leading role in innovative researcher and community partner development, ensuring that staff and PhD students are supported to do more transdisciplinary Community Engaged Research (CER). TU Dublin will develop short, accredited training courses related to CER, co-created with community partners where possible, which will be available as digital badges which can be combined into a 5 ECTS micro credential. 

Over three years, the consortium will focus on four main strands: 

• Building sustainable university-community research partnerships by embedding collaboration in universities and creating networks to generate new initiatives. 

• Innovative development and training for researchers and communities, through short, accredited courses, and curriculum design that integrates CER into research and learning. 

• Collaborative research in action, from student-led projects to larger-scale funded initiatives addressing community-identified challenges. 

• Scaling up and sharing across Europe by developing Open Educational Resources, case studies, FAQs, and training-for-trainers workshops. 

By the end of the project, TOGETHERNESS will deliver open-access resources and examples of best practice in Community Engaged Research. The overall outcomes will include: 

• Greater research collaboration between universities and communities across Europe. 

• Stronger innovation in teaching and learning. 

• Increased civic participation and employability for students from PhD to undergraduate. 

• Universities and CSOs empowered as co-creators of positive societal change. 

For more information about TU Dublin’s role in TOGETHERNESS, please contact Dr Catherine Bates, Research Engagement Lead, TU Dublin Research Engagement & Impact Office. 

Our thanks to the project funder, the European Union through the AEF (Agence Francophone pour l’Education et la Formation Tout au Long de la Vie).  TOGETHERNESS ‘Training and Opportunities for Growing Engagement in Teaching and Higher Education Research – a New Engine for Societal Solidarity,’ is an Erasmus+ Cooperation Partnership.