Educational Innovation in an International Setting

How to make innovations in education at an Institute of Higher Education with a target audience from 60 different countries and as many different educational backgrounds? This paper discusses the educational innovations at UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education in Delft, The Netherlands. This UN institute, located in The Netherlands, offers Master and PhD programmes to mainly people from developing countries and countries in transition. Because of its UN-status and its special target group it is different from regular universities. To keep abreast of new technologies and educational developments, and to keep its programmes attractive for prospective students, the institute has initiated a complex process of educational innovations. More flexible learning routes for the students, more joint programmes with other universities in the world, a more learner centred approach and more elearning are key elements of these innovations. The reasons why and the methods of, are discussed and described from the point of view of the students, the lecturing staff, and from an institutional perspective.