HEInnovate is a free self-assessment tool co-designed by the EU Commission and OECD to help higher education institutions (HEIs) assess and enhance their entrepreneurial and innovative. HEInnovate supports HEIs in identifying their strengths and areas for improvement across various dimensions related to entrepreneurship and innovation.

The tool assesses institutions across eight dimensions:

1. Leadership and governance, with focus on the institution’s leadership, strategic direction, and governance structures in fostering entrepreneurship.
2. Organizational capacity, meaning how the given HEI drives its capacity and ability to deliver its entrepreneurial mission.
3. Entrepreneurial teaching and learning, to assess and measure how entrepreneurship is integrated into teaching and learning practices.
4. Preparing and supporting entrepreneurs, both with focus on the entrepreneurial drive of students as well as staff
5. Digital transformation and capability, and the institutions’ ability to leverage digital technologies for innovation and entrepreneurship.
6. Knowledge exchange and collaboration, by looking at how the institution collaborates with external stakeholders and engages in knowledge exchange.
7. Internationalization, and the university’s cross-border outlook and activities.
8. Impact measurement, the assess and keep track of the progresses made in implementation, if any finetuning measure might be needed, and more in general if activities implemented are aligned to the strategic entrepreneurial vision of the institution

Since its launch, HEInnovate has been widely adopted by higher education institutions across Europe and beyond. It has helped numerous institutions enhance their entrepreneurial strategies, improve their teaching and learning practices, and strengthen their engagement with external stakeholders.

Key features of the toll are the following:

• Individual and group self-assessment
• Training manual for HEInnovate workshops
• Case studies
• User stories
• Guidance notes
• Country reviews
• Action cards and tailored recommendations based on evidences from the assessment

HEInnovate is a strategic tool that empowers higher education institutions to cultivate an entrepreneurial and innovative culture, thereby contributing to the development of dynamic and forward-thinking educational environments.