International

10 EUNICE partners, including UMONS, join forces in Germany to create a vast interconnected European campus

Published on 26 April 2024
Written by Christophe Morel
The latest EUNICE General Assembly, held on April 23 and 24 in Cottbus, Germany, at the Brandenbug University of Technology, paved the way for European innovation in education. The partners took advantage of the event to elect the new EUNICE President, who will succeed the UMONS Rector in November.

Creating an interconnected European campus to enrich the teaching and research developed by the EUNICE network of European universities. This was the central concept of the General Assembly meeting, which brought together over 80 representatives, including rectors, from the ten partner universities.

The meeting took place on April 23 and 24, 2024 and was hosted by the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg (Germany), the first meeting of its kind celebrated in the context of the new Erasmus+ project: EUNICE4U (the new phase of EUNICE).

The agenda of sessions included exchanges of experience, focus groups and the development of Europe-wide initiatives related to experiential learning, language courses, mobility, project management and international outreach beyond the EUNICE consortium, among other EUNICE4U project tasks.

In addition, parallel sessions assessed ongoing REUNICE (EUNICE Research) initiatives aimed at developing a framework that supports research collaborations within the consortium. As an example of REUNICE-led initiatives, its new open scientific platform will soon be launched. The REUNICE project is funded by the European Commission’s Horizon2020 program.

New opportunities

The European Campus envisaged by the EUNICE consortium in ten countries aims to significantly increase the mobility rates of partner universities within the alliance. Mobility should not be limited to semester-long Erasmus student exchanges. In addition to physical mobility, other modalities are paving the way for more personalized international experiences:

  • Virtual mobility is a new concept linked to home-based internationalization initiatives, enabling individuals to study online or acquire skills while benefiting from intercultural learning experiences. In this context, EUNICE will be opening registration for its shared online courses in the coming weeks, accessible free of charge to students from the ten partner universities.
  • New formats such as intensive blended programs, which combine online training with short on-site periods, are more accessible to students and easier to fit into their academic schedules.
  • International internships that promote learning by doing in companies abroad.
  • Staff weeks for teaching and administrative staff, to encourage the sharing and adoption of best practices. Under EUNICE, these events usually start with a short online course reinforcing aspects such as languages, for example, followed by on-site workshops and job-shadowing activities.

The partners also took advantage of the event to elect the new President of the AISBL, who will take over from the Rector in November. He is Abdelhakim Artiba, President of the Université Polytechnique Hauts-de-France.

See footage of the latest general meeting in the video below:

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