On 18 June 2026, Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) welcomed the Npuls programme organisation. In the Erasmus Education Lab, fifteen Npuls representatives and forty EUR experts came together for an afternoon focused on the future of our education. The aim was to connect the national digitalisation initiative with the EUR context. In this article, we share the main insights from this working visit.
Npuls in a nutshell
Npuls is the national digitalisation impulse for higher education, funded by the Dutch National Growth Fund. All 102 universities, universities of applied sciences and vocational institutions will work together for eight years to build an education sector that is ready for the future.
The sector has made three promises to learners:
- Learning without barriers: the learner is in control of their own learning and development path, with options and without administrative obstacles.
- Continuously high‑quality education: the learner receives the best education on an ongoing basis. Education that is up to date and of high quality.
- Ethical and effective use of AI and data: learners and education professionals use AI and data safely and responsibly, with public values as the starting point.
These promises have been translated into sector ambitions and objectives that make clear what we want to achieve. Sector‑wide facilities are also being developed, so that institutions do not each have to reinvent the wheel and cooperation and exchange become easier. For EUR, this means we can connect to national infrastructure, frameworks and funding schemes, while keeping our own strategy, educational vision and context at the centre. Each institution has a linking team (at EUR: the Sleutelteam) that ensures alignment with Npuls. At EUR, this linking team acts as a bridge between the Executive Board, faculties, central services, the Community for Learning & Innovation (CLI) and the national programme organisation.
Learning without barriers: flexibility requires a shared direction
In the first substantive part of the programme, Learning without barriers was central. Npuls describes the ambition to organise learning and development paths flexibly, across boundaries: students should be able to find and combine education that fits their ambitions and stage of life.
EUR took part in the readiness scan for Learning without barriers. This showed that we already have important building blocks: a mature application landscape (our IT systems), a strong lifelong learning programme and local experiments, for example with interdisciplinary programmes and pilots around the academic year. At the same time, these initiatives arise mainly in a decentralised way. Faculties have space to make their own choices, which is valuable, but we still lack a shared vision on Learning without barriers.
In a Socratic dialogue, Npuls and EUR explored the opportunities and concerns of greater flexibility. Npuls participants mainly emphasised freedom of choice and education that fits the learner. EUR participants mainly emphasised the risks of choice overload and reduced studyability. The shared insight: Learning without barriers requires a clear ambition at institutional level, with conscious choices about the degree of flexibility and strong frameworks for guidance and studyability. Npuls can support this with reference models, user stories and infrastructure, but the course must be set by EUR itself.
Continuously high‑quality education: technology, learning materials and assessment
The second part of the programme focused on Continuously high‑quality education. With support from Npuls, the sector aims for education that is continuously up to date, of high quality and responsibly supported by digital tools. This is not only about individual tools, but about how we organise educational resources, assessment and professional development in a coherent way.
There were group discussions on four subtopics:
In educational technology, the main question is how we create a digital learning environment that fits with public values. For EUR, rationalising our applications is an important theme, partly because of management, security and studyability. Working together on educational technology with other institutions can support this. Npuls can strengthen this movement by developing sector‑wide facilities and designing agreement frameworks, so that we are stronger as a sector while still being able to make our own choices.
In the area of digital learning materials, ongoing EUR projects that promote open education (such as open textbooks via Wikiwijs, SURF Sharekit and Edusources) fit well with Npuls. At EUR, we see early adopters of open education, but it is not yet standard practice. Npuls offers opportunities through financial schemes, national platforms and legal and didactic support. This makes it easier to share and reuse teaching materials created by and for lecturers, without it requiring a lot of extra effort.
In the area of digital assessment and development, the tension between innovation and assurance became clear. EUR has a large digital assessment facility and is preparing a new tender for assessment software, while at the same time there are many questions about alternative forms of assessment, e‑portfolios and the impact of generative AI. Npuls is developing scenarios for “the assessment space of the future” and encourages knowledge sharing between institutions. This can support lecturers and examination boards in redesigning assessments in a world where AI is here to stay.
Finally, in the area of professional development and digital literacy, it became clear that EUR is already doing a lot, but that a coordinated approach to digital and AI literacy is still missing. The way student digital literacy is addressed differs per faculty. There is a strong need for professional development for lecturers focused on AI literacy; this offers good opportunities for national cooperation. Npuls is developing frameworks and facilitating knowledge exchange and collaboration between institutions, so that not everyone has to do everything on their own.
Ethical and effective use of AI and data: from isolated initiatives to a shared strategy
The third theme was Ethical and effective use of AI and data. Within EUR, there are many initiatives, ranging from experiments in courses and programmes and communities of practice to initial guidelines. Npuls is working on secure sector‑wide facilities for generative AI (such as EduGenAI), frameworks for AI literacy (AI‑GO) and support in implementing the new European AI Act.
The central observation is that a lot is happening, but that the overall coherence is still limited. AI forces us to rethink the core of university education: if systems can write, summarise and analyse, what makes our education and our assessment unique? At the same time, AI raises very concrete questions: what am I allowed to do as a lecturer, what room does an examination board have, how do we handle study data, and who is responsible for what?
In four groups, we explored understanding of AI developments, institution‑wide governance and the responsible use of AI in education. Within EUR there is a great deal of initiative and experimentation, but there is a need for coordination, frameworks and a shared strategy. In April 2026, the strategic programme AI@EUR was launched to respond to this. Npuls offers tools, communities and sector‑wide agreements that can accelerate this movement. Across the board, the same need emerged: we must connect EUR’s internal energy with external acceleration through Npuls.
What's next?
The working visit made clear that Npuls and EUR have a great deal to offer each other. Npuls brings national infrastructure, funding, communities and frameworks; EUR brings practical questions, pilots and expertise in educational innovation, digitalisation and AI. For EUR, Npuls is above all an opportunity to connect, scale up and embed existing initiatives more sustainably. For education professionals, Npuls offers access to more knowledge, tools and colleagues inside and outside EUR who are working on similar challenges.
If you are interested in connecting to one of the Npuls domains, or you are working on a project that fits these themes, there are several concrete ways you can get involved as a lecturer, educationalist or support staff member:
- Stay informed about developments via Npuls, CLI and AI@EUR. In the coming period, we will regularly highlight Npuls opportunities and pilots in the newsletter and through events. More information about EUR and Npuls will be shared here.
- Join relevant communities and events. Think of open educational resources, digital assessment or AI in education; many of these networks are linked to Npuls communities.
- Put your initiative on the radar. Let CLI or the linking team know via npuls@eur.nl, so we can connect it with Npuls activities and potentially organise additional support.
- Contribute to frameworks and vision. When dialogues are organised about Learning without barriers, assessment or AI policy, your practice‑based perspective is essential.
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