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Berlin & online, 3 March 2021. As part of the Una Europa Staff Week, on March 3rd, 9.30 a.m. CET, the homonymous University Alliance plans an online talk titled “The European University — One Idea, Different Models.”

The organisers have chosen a broad approach, they think “that the idea of the European University has seen the development of multifaceted models over the course of the last years. There is a proliferation of networks and programs, which aim at making the European university landscape more diverse and inclusive by fostering relationships between universities and encouraging collaboration between a multitude of different actors. In this talk, we want to ask which steps have been taken towards the idea of a European university and discuss directions for future developments that unfold from the joint activities of university alliances, networks, and partnerships.”

The FU website informs: “There is a proliferation of models, programs and formats among [University Alliances]. The aims and objectives of the various networks are very heterogeneous. Some concentrate their co-cooperation on specific research themes, others on student mobility, some want to create a unified European Campus, others plan to create ‘only’ joint programs. Most of them hope to enable students at some point to obtain a degree by combining studies in several EU countries. Some chose partners who were very much like themselves, others went for complimentary partners.”

In this talk, representatives of the three networks Una Europa, Eutopia and Unite! have been invited to discuss the different paths these networks are currently going. They will talk about challenges they all have to face and the hopes they have for their future development. Among the questions to be discussed will be the following:

• Which strategies and instruments of cooperation have been successful, particularly in times of a pandemic?
• How far do the universities within the networks want to go in terms of forming a new joint European identify?
• What are currently the main challenges in building European structures and programs – legal issues, financial issues, visionary issues, national egoisms to name but a few?
• Where do the new networks see themselves in comparison to already existing European higher education institutions?
• How far did some individual universities already change in the process?
• What are the biggest positive aspects of the networks? Or is it too early to tell?
• What are best practice models? A fusion of European universities into one or a European network?
• Some networks have UK member institutions – how will the networks deal with Brexit?
• How can we make the networks sustainable in terms of finance?
• How would you measure the success of a ‘European University’?
• Where do we envisage the networks in ten years from now?”

These questions will be discussed by our panel of experts:

• James Smith, Vice-Principal International at University of Edinburgh, and Representative of Una Europa
• Eva Wiberg, Vice-Chancellor at the University of Gothenburg, and Representative of EUTOPIA
• Jens Schneider, Vice President of Transfer and International Affairs at Technische Universität Darmstadt, and Representative of UNITE!

The panel discussion will be moderated by Verena Blechinger-Talcott, Vice-President International at Freie Universität Berlin, and Representative of Una Europa.

Sources: Una Europa | FU Berlin