“Micro-credentials are an important pillar of modern higher education,” emphasises Vice Rector Univ.-Prof. Dr. Janette Walde. “They enable flexible, high-quality learning — and they complement our existing programmes by highlighting key cross-cutting themes that are among the University of Innsbruck’s defined areas of expertise.”
New micro-credential: Sport, Tourism & Sustainable Event Management
The new micro-credential provides students with competencies in sustainable event management and sport tourism, while introducing them to current research topics and debates. Participants learn to identify research problems, critically analyse academic literature, and evaluate real-world event strategies.
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Martin Schnitzer, responsible for the new micro-credentials at the University of Innsbruck, explains: “This format combines research excellence with practical application. It demonstrates how micro-credentials can respond promptly to societal and environmental challenges.”
The new micro-credential “Sport, Tourism & Sustainable Event Management” combines academic expertise with practice-oriented research questions.
Internationalisation and cooperation: Aurora as a driving force
The established micro-credentials “Reading Austria in European and Global Context” and “Climate Action & Sustainability Communication” show how strongly micro-credentials can foster international collaboration. Developed jointly with partner universities in the Aurora Alliance, they attract an international student body and create valuable opportunities for networking.
“Aurora micro-credentials open up new forms of international academic collaboration,” notes Vice Rector Univ.-Prof. Dr. Janette Walde. “They broaden our study offerings and create additional room for exchange.”
A Clear European Framework
European and national recommendations define micro-credentials as quality-assured, transparent, and digitally issuable learning formats. They support internationalisation and targeted competence development and always remain complementary to regular study degree programmes.
Micro-credentials also contribute to building stable educational ecosystems, in which partner universities, students, and additional international stakeholders can collaborate flexibly and respond collectively to emerging societal needs.
Contact
For questions regarding micro-credentials within regular study degree programmes, the Teaching and Learning Development Team in the Vice Rectorate for Teaching and Students, Office for the Bologna Process and Teaching Development, is happy to assist.
(Christina Raab)