The last week of October has been very busy for Circle U. While almost 200 colleagues and partners for EU institutions, stakeholders’ organizations and other alliances were celebrating the finalization of the Erasmus+ pilot project at the conference in Brussels, Presidents, Rectors and student representatives met right after, for two days in Oslo. On the agenda of the General Assembly: the lessons learnt from the pilot project, the further development of the global strategy of Circle U., the evaluation of the Secretary General, the future of the alliances and the ongoing discussions on the investment pathway with the European Commission, etc.
Embedding Circle U.
Looking back at the achievements of the past three years and the contributing factors to the successful developments of the alliance, Presidents and Rectors acknowledged the necessity to support the implementation of Circle U. within their universities. “Circle U. is not a project in the hands of some happy fews,” says Vincent Blondel, Circle U. President and Rector of UCLouvain. “Circle U. is a dynamic for all, that should support our faculties, academics, researchers, students and partners in fulfilling their respective missions and realizing their ambitions. It is our main priority in the coming months to make the alliance a reality for all and thus embed this reality in all components of our universities.”
The global strategy that is under development will also offer a leverage to Circle U. and the member universities to achieve the objectives, in particular the capacity to respond to global challenges linked to climate, democracy and global health. “In the next phase, we have committed to establish a Global Fellowship programme,” underlines Yoan Vilain, Vice-Provost for international and European affairs at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and member of the Circle U. Management Board. “The future global fellows will be an essential instrument, but we need to ensure a share vision on how we want to engage globally with Circle U. in complementarity with the individual strategies of the member universities. That will be our main focus in the coming months.”
Engaging with partners outside the academia
Prior to the General Assembly, Presidents, Rectors and CUSU representatives met with Oslo Science City. It was an occasion to exchange how universities are engaging in the “local” R&I ecosystems and discuss how Circle U. could do more (and better) when collaborating with non-academic partners. They have also discussed with Stephen Leach, a PhD candidate in Berlin, that spent some weeks at Oslo Science City to learn more about the innovation concepts and infrastructure in higher education, based on the actual work of Oslo Science City. A perfect opportunity for Presidens and Rectors to confront their “political” discussions with an actual fied experience.
Last but not least, Presidents, Rectors and CUSU representatives discussed student engagement in the alliance and how to ensure an effective and sustainable engagement, despite the changes in local student democracies. They reiterate the crucial role of CUSU in the strategic development of the alliance and underlines the complementary roles of the future Student Fellows linked to the Knowledg Hubs. However, CUSU needs support to ensure their continuous engagement. Some concrete options have been mentioned that would further analysed and proposed to the General Assembly in the coming months.
The next General Assembly is scheduled to take place in Brussels on 30 and 31 May.