level, a different understanding of the way universities can work together. In what follows some concrete examples of the work of some alliances, to provide a snapshot of the transformational potential of the European Universities initiative. The European Universities have set a new bar for cooperation, reimagining and transcending that of regular project-based cooperation. They have set up long-term strategies for their cooperation , transformative in their aspirations, with clear and long-term visions endorsed by the highest management level of the partner institutions. These strategies contribute to building trust within the alliances, deepening mutual knowledge and facilitating the sharing of resources. For example the ARQUS alliance, in which the University of Granada is involved, aims at a systematic approach for ten years across all missions of the alliance and sets out a vision of a forward-looking, open, integrated and research-driven European University, building transformative excellence with and for all, with deep regional engagement in medium-sized cities. The European Universities alliances have in their long- term strategies, across all their missions, the objective of addressing the most major societal challenges of our times . The bottom-up approach in which the alliances are rooted allow them to work comprehensively across different interdisciplinary themes or to focus on a broad one, and in both cases with the objective to involve all their faculties. European Universities cover all areas, including climate and environmental protection, the digital transition, the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, inclusion, sustainable blue growth, health and demographic change, technological progress and engineering, European identity and active citizenship, interdisciplinary social sciences and humanities, culture heritage and arts, entrepreneurship and innovation, regional and rural development. The European Universities are also pioneering new governance models: be it through joint high-level boards/ strategy boards, steering committees, making students co-lead the governance structure through student boards (as in the case of EELISA , in which the Technical University of Madrid participates, or EU-CONEXUS in which Catholic University of Valencia is a partner) or through the involvement of non-academic partners from industry and civil society. Around 1,300 associated partners ranging from non- governmental organisations (NGOs), enterprises, cities, local and regional authorities currently take part in the initiative, substantively increasing the quality and scope of European Universities. A key achievement of the alliances has also been to forge inter-university campuses through innovative mobility and joint educational activities, as well as pedagogical innovation and student-centred teaching and learning . University Carlos III of Madrid is a partner in the YUFE
alliance, which has developed a Student Journey Programme allowing students to develop their transversal knowledge and skills, such as critical thinking and an entrepreneurial mindset through accredited academic courses, language courses, a virtual campus, and extracurricular activities like volunteering and professional development opportunities, available in all partner universities of the alliance. On top of adapting their existing programmes to embed mobility and interdisciplinary challenge-based project modules, European Universities alliances are also developing new joint programmes. For example, CHARM-EU , which counts the University of Barcelona among its partners, has developed a new Joint Master’s degree programme on Global Challenges for Sustainability, including an embedded moblity component, both in a physical and virtual manner. Complutense University Madrid is a partner in the UNA Europa European University, that has developed a new Joint Bachelor programme in European Studies, integrating compulsory mobility to several universities within the alliance. Many alliances have simplified and facilitated the mobility of both their staff and students and ensure automatic recognition of these learning mobility periods. The work of the European Universities’ also shows great potential to respond to and fully harness the green and digital transitions. For example, SEA-EU , in which the University of Cádiz participates, has launched the Observatory for Sustainable Blue Economy, which aims to foster an active network of marine and maritime stakeholders and to raise awareness of relevant professions and their appeal to young people, promoting circular economy and forming strategies for matching supply and demand for jobs. EDUC , to which Jaume I University belongs, has built 50 collaborative virtual learning and teaching scenarios (e.g. open educational resources, blended formats of co-teaching, student group work or virtual field trips). The European Universities continue to break ground in innovation and entrepreneurship , where efforts often concentrate on how new ways of thinking can tackle persistent societal challenges. EUt+ , an alliance in which the Technical University of Cartagena takes part, has established “Women in Tech” as a platform to support, recognise and promote the talent, performance and potential of women active in the digital technology sector. Inclusivity, diversity and gender equality are other areas in which European Universities’ demonstrate promising outcomes. Polytechnic University of Valencia is a partner in the ENHANCE alliance, which held the ENHANCE Challenges, bringing together interdisciplinary teams of students and academia to present their disruptive ideas on how to foster diversity and inclusion of students with fewer opportunities at the university and utilise AI applications to optimise university administration.
Crucially, the European Universities have proven that their ambition to strengthen the European dimension of higher education does not leave behind – but rather actively involves – regional stakeholders and local communities. Autonomous University of Madrid is a partner of the CIVIS alliance, which has founded Open Labs in eight cities where universities and local citizens can meet and together develop solutions to the challenges facing their city and region. But it doesn’t stop there. The European Universities also emphasise lifelong learning, to meet Europe’s urgent need to upskill and reskill workers, for example by developing, testing and mainstreaming micro-credentials . The Autonomous University of Barcelona is part of the ECIU alliance , which has developed 98 micro-modules across partner universities on the Sustainable Development Goals and founded a Micro-credential Observatory to monitor and share major developments in the area. Civic engagement, democratic values and multilingualism have found important champions in the European Universities. CIVICA , home to IE University, has designed the CIVICA Engage Track, a multi-campus, interdisciplinary civic engagement Bachelor’s degree, promoting civic engagement among students through fieldwork and hands-on interactions with community-based organisations. The UNITE! alliance, in which the Polytechnic University of Catalonia is a partner, has established a Multilingual and Multicultural Training Centre offering 23 virtual language and cultural competencies courses. This success is not limited to the European level. Indeed, the European Universities have shown that higher education institutions are lighthouses for our European way of life and are instrumental in building a stronger Europe in the world . Their objective to act as role models of good practice to further increase the quality, international competitiveness, and attractiveness of the European higher education landscape is yielding positive results. CIVIS and its member universities signed an ambitious partnership agreement with six African universities, committing the alliance and its African partners to an ambitious cooperation agenda over the coming years, while EUTOPIA (in which Pompeu Fabra University Barcelona is a partner) supports capacity building of Western Balkan universities in inclusion policies through strengthened cooperation across cultures.
Policy support to the European Universities
The European Universities initiative is highly ambitious. Challenges are inevitably part of the process when pushing boundaries. Aware of the challenges, the European Commission works together with the alliances, Member States and stakeholders to overcome them and find innovative solutions in order for the initiative to succeed and pave the way for the future of European higher education.
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