The escalating significance of knowledge exchange in diverse industries is owed to its potential to enhance business performance. Although numerous theoretical frameworks have been applied to understand and measure knowledge exchange within and between firms, a notable gap remains in measuring inter-organisational knowledge exchange among horizontally-linked firms in the same sector. This research endeavours to fill this gap by proposing a comprehensive survey grounded in theory and practice for assessing knowledge exchange among 14 universities in the Netherlands. Drawing from inputs from campus managers and established theory-based evaluation methods, four key elements were identified: organizational context, enablers and disablers, processes, and outcome expectations. This synthesis aims to offer insights into how knowledge exchange dynamics can be gauged between firms. By gaining insights into the intricacies of inter-organisational knowledge exchange through the survey developed in this study, organisations would be able to adopt more informed strategies, fostering collaborative environments and ultimately optimising the efficiency of knowledge exchange processes between organisations in the same sector.

Universities experience similar challenges related to hybrid working, climate change, student accommodation, and so on. One of the aims of Campus NL is to pool the resources and knowledge of the 14 Dutch universities to solve these problems jointly and efficiently. This requires learning from others rather than reinventing the wheel or solving individual challenges. To facilitate this process, Campus NL will closely link science and practice to make inter-university learning easier. [...]

Knowledge transfer in campus management has a decades-long history in the Netherlands, ever since the Dutch (research) universities became owners of their university buildings and land in the nineties. The shared challenges have urged universities to join forces and exchange insights about their solutions. One of those pressing challenges has been sustainability. Since 2008, long-term agreements on energy-efficiency have become effective in the Netherlands for various sectors. Higher education was one of these sectors and - as a result - universities have developed sustainable visions and road maps for their campuses. At the same time, universities started to improve inter-university knowledge exchange, in general and about sustainability in particular.

Knowledge transfer from theory to practice, from practice to practice, and from practice back to theory, has built a knowledge base with scientific and societal relevance and benefits for academia and professional campus management. Over the years, inter-university networks have given many new and valuable insights to support (sustainable) campus decision making. This presentation/paper combines findings from past campus research with new findings - from Neva Wardenaar's research - about the different existing networks, drivers, barriers, and tools of knowledge sharing between universities, providing an answer to the main research question: “How can inter-university knowledge transfer support university campus managers to achieve the universities’ sustainability goals?”. Wardenaar's research also served as exploratory research for (and before) the larger inter-university Campus NL research (2023-2027) by TU Delft's Campus Research Team.

Through an extensive literature review, ten in-depth semi-structured interviews, strategy-analysis, and observations, Wardenaar's research concludes that universities have similar (sustainability) goals and that, by working together, they might accelerate the (decision-making) process of achieving these goals. Collectively, universities can acquire more funds, receive more guidance and get insights into what others are doing. This research provides an overview of the barriers and drivers of knowledge transfer that campus managers (working on the energy transition) are experiencing and contributes to the debate of knowledge transfer and (sustainable) campus management, with lessons beyond Campus NL.

On university campuses today, influenced by large-scale trends and challenges, knowledge exchange is important because universities pursue similar goals and can solve common challenges with each other’s help. In addition, “learning from each other” and “data collection for knowledge generation” fit the education and research functions of the institutions. As university campuses face similar challenges in different locations, knowledge exchange enables campus managers to draw on shared experiences and best practices, promoting cooperation and innovation between universities. […]

Following the Covid-19 pandemic, an increasing number of individuals are expected to engage in remote work. Consequently, the hybrid working paradigm, characterized by a combination of office-based and remote work, is gaining prominence. Despite the governments awareness of this phenomenon, comprehensive policy framework remains absent, leaving determinations to the discretion of individual sectors and entities. Whereas studies focused on diverse sectors in this matter, not much is known regarding hybrid working within the university environment. This study is part of the Campus NL project, aiming to investigate management and strategies across all the 14 universities in the Netherlands. The specific focus of this study was to examine hybrid working and its ramifications within the university landscape in the Netherlands. We asked universities to provide us with information concerning policies and financial allocations related to hybrid working, spatial utilization, energy consumption, and prospective strategies related to sustainability and mobility. Furthermore, we aimed not solely to delineate the present state of hybrid working within Dutch universities but also to enhance future strategies in this domain to provide a better working space in the universities.

International and prestigious universities located in small cities are growing at a rate beyond the spatial capacity of their host city. Due to this, the presence of students and student housing in these cities has exponentially grown and resulted in a myriad of social, cultural, economic, and spatial impacts. This is known as ‘studentification’ which affects the co-existence and tolerance between the university community and the local community, particularly between students and local residents who lead entirely different and clashing lifestyles. Existing research on campus-city relationships has primarily focused on the economic benefits of large universities in small cities, whereas research on student housing in the Netherlands has primarily focused on the shortage for both incoming and existing students. However, much less attention has been given to the current conditions of student housing qualitatively and what student housing typologies mean for other residents in Delft that may have the potential to shift perspectives from student growth to limitation. As tensions are at an all-time high and further expansion growths have been announced by TU Delft, a need to understand the fundamental conditions that contribute to the negative consequences of studentification is needed more than ever to thoroughly understand the studentification process and recommend a long-term strategic plan towards co-existence. This policy brief highlights the effects of student housing in Delft and creates a strategic plan that is informed by practices of other European cities (Lund, Gottingen, and Loughborough) that is viewed through the political, spatial, and sociocultural lens of Delft to provide an evidence-based and comprehensive approach that transcends conventional practices. By proposing a pathway of policies, regulations, and strategies, a step-by-step process of mitigating the different conflicts and issues resulting from studenification may be mitigated.