Photo above: Elena Furthmayr, Mette Oftebro and Kevin Guillaume at the Forum of European Universities Alliances in Barcelona.
Following up the first forum of European universities alliances organised by the French Presidency of the EU in June 2022, the Spanish Presidency has held a second edition. The forum offers a unique opportunity for the alliances to engage on the current and future developments with the European Commission, with the stakeholders’ organisation but also between alliances.
Circle U. was represented by Mette Oftebro, project coordinator at the University of Oslo (UiO) , Elena Furthmayr, Circle U. Student Union representative from the University of Vienna (participating as a member of European Students’ Union (ESU) Board), and Secretary General Kevin Guillaume.
"More than 300 participants attended the forum, and it has become “the” rendezvous for the alliances to meet and discuss their current and future challenges. I noticed several elements which could be considered by our alliance in its further developments, for example concerning the monitoring framework", says Kevin Guillaume.
Take-home messages from the event:
- Dialogue between alliances, with the Commission, European university networks and other stakeholders’ organisations is essential. The European University Initiative is a joint ambition and responsibility!
- Five years after the launch of the initiative, it’s incredible how much has been achieved by the alliances. But we have to keep going on the unique journey to make sure the alliances will transform higher education and research
- The alliances will demonstrate their impact, not only to the European Commission and the Member States, but more importantly to our communities and partners. The monitoring framework developed by the Commission is one tool to achieve this, but the alliances should develop their own capacities to monitor, evaluate and learn from what they are doing.
- For the future, alliances need a sustainable, predictable and simplified investment scheme. And this should cover the full scope of our missions.
- Alliances are not euro-centric. Circle U. universities are international and research-intensive. We need to engage with global partners in a balanced and win-win partnership.
The European Universities Initiative has been a driving force behind collaboration among European higher education institutions since its launch in 2017. The goal is to have 60 alliances by mid-2024.
