Internationalisation of European Universities Alliances: The New Frontiers (17.09.2024, Toulouse)
On 17 September 2024, EAIE Conference kicked off with the insightful side event, “Internationalisation of European Universities Alliances: The New Frontiers”, hosted by Université de Toulouse and La Région Occitanie.
During the event, the priorities for the development of reforms in the field of education, the future of cooperation programs in the field of education and science and the prospects for the activities of alliances were presented.
Vanessa Debiais Sainton, representative of the Directorate-General for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, stressed the importance of the activities of the alliances and the need to maximize the dissemination of their experience and interaction between the alliances. She also drew attention to the fact that . The European diploma and micro-qualifications, as well as the development of vocational education, will be the focus of cooperation and special attention and support will be given to mobility projects.
This event was devoted to the discussions of the European Universities Alliances strategies by expanding their partnerships beyond the EU. The focus on building strong ties with universities and stakeholders globally, spotlighting two key regions: Ukraine and Africa.
During the session on Ukraine, the collaborative opportunities with Ukrainian partners amid the ongoing war and the post-war reconstruction efforts were explored.
Ukraine’s experience was presented by: Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, Kyiv State University of Trade and Economics, which noted, among other things, the activities of alliances to overcome challenges in the field of higher education and build capacity to join alliances as full partners and constant support during the war.
Also, among the priorities of support, they emphasised the need to focus on inclusiveness in all its manifestations, given the consequences of the war.
During the session on Africa the discussion was shifted to fostering cooperation between Alliances and African partners, highlighting the potential for transformative partnerships.
The importance of joint research, synergy, interaction and co-creation was noted, because if you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, then together!
A new EU project was announced to support the interaction of the Alliances and the dissemination of their experience.
Over 200 participants from European Universities Alliances and other institutions including Ukrainian partners from Alliances were participating in the event and in the networking together with the National Erasmus+ Office – Ukraine.
The Agenda and information about speakers are available via the link.
We would like to remind you that about 40 Ukrainian higher education institutions are associate partners of the European University Alliances projects funded by the EU under the Erasmus+ Program, and some universities of Ukraine have been invited by the alliances to become their members.