What is User-Inspired Research

The chapter focuses on mapping and analysing regional engagement of universities of applied sciences through an institutional self-reflection tool which is developed within the international project UASiMAP and which aims to be useful at institutional level as well as to highlight the important role of this specific area of HE activities. The tool should serve not only for immediate self-evaluation but also to inform institutional improvement and dynamics. The authors define UAS as a specific entrepreneurial hub for regional development and propose a multidimensional model for reflection of the UAS role in regional development. Opportunities, challenges, and limits of the model´s individual dimensions are discussed in two ways: firstly, as reflections of relevant literature and, secondly, using the practical experiences of project partners from different European countries as arguments for the proposed dimension(s). A strategy for assessing progress using the proposed model and criteria for indicators are presented and discussed.