RUN WELL strengthens the pedagogical competence and well-being of higher education teachers across Europe
We will develop a research-based training programme for higher education teachers that combines high-quality pedagogy with teacher and student well-being.
European higher education is undergoing significant change. Digitalisation, increasingly diverse student populations and growing expectations require higher education teachers to continuously develop their teaching practices. At the same time their workloads and work-related demands have also increased. We want to respond to these challenges by bringing pedagogical competence and well-being more closely together in the professional development of higher education teachers.
Our work is based on the idea that well-being is not separate from teaching but an essential part of high-quality pedagogy. We want to strengthen teachers’ ability to create inclusive, safe and supportive learning environments while also supporting their own professional well-being.
Bringing research into everyday teaching practice
Together with our European partners, RUN WELL will develop a 5 ECTS training programme for higher education teachers. The programme combines research-based pedagogy, well-being, inclusive teaching and the development of high-quality learning environments.
The training programme will be jointly designed and then piloted at the University of Burgos in Spain. Based on the experiences and feedback from the pilot, we will develop the programme further, and adapt it to the contexts of the partner universities. We will also produce training materials adapted to local languages, a practice-oriented publication and an openly accessible online course.
Our aim is to ensure that the results benefit higher education institutions beyond the project partnership. Training materials and other key resources will be made openly available. This ensures that other European higher education institutions can use and adapt them to support the professional development of their teachers.
HAMK coordinates European collaboration
We coordinate the project in partnership with the Technical University of Liberec in Czechia and the University of Burgos in Spain. The collaboration builds on the RUN-EU European University Alliance. Our partners bring complementary expertise in higher education pedagogy, teacher education, well-being, inclusive teaching, digital learning and staff development.
“In the RUN WELL project, we want to make well-being an integral part of higher education pedagogy. Our aim is to provide teachers with research-based and practical approaches that support both their own well-being and their students’ learning and well-being,” says RUN WELL Project Manager Telle Hailikari.
We will lead the development of the research-based pedagogical framework and training programme. Our area of expertise is particularly in higher education pedagogy and pedagogical well-being, as well as in the professional development of higher education teachers.
Towards lasting change in higher education
Our goal is to integrate the approaches and materials developed into the continuous professional development of higher education staff. We also want to strengthen the role of well-being as an integral part of pedagogical competence and teaching quality.
The training materials developed will be openly available, and the training will also be offered in an online format.
About the project
RUN WELL, Empowering European higher education teachers/educators through innovative pedagogics and Well-being, is implemented from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2029.
The Erasmus+ Cooperation Partnerships in Higher Education project has a total budget of EUR 250,000
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