Great success: 14.4 million euros from the European Commission for the EC2U alliance
The European Campus of City-Universities (EC2U) has received new funding of 14.4 million euros under the European Universities 2023 call (ERASMUS-EDU-2023-EUR-UNIV) launched by the European Commission.
Funded in 2020, the EC2U Alliance is creating a pan-European campus connecting academic communities, citizens and stakeholders and is strengthening the mutual link between member universities, their cities and local businesses.
So far the Alliance has been composed of 7 European universities: University of Coimbra (Portugal), University of Iași (Romania), University of Jena (Germany), University of Pavia (Italy), University of Poitiers (France) – project coordinator -, University of Salamanca (Spain) and University of Turku (Finland).
Since its creation, the EC2U Alliance has set out to foster a global challenge-based initiative centered around the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Three SDGs guided activities during the early years of the Alliance: health and well-being (SDG #3), quality education (SDG #4), and sustainable cities and communities (SDG #11). It is precisely around these SDGs that EC2U has developed three joint masters programmes, with flexible and multidisciplinary learning paths and mobility schemes in all alliance locations, as well as three virtual institutes, which enhance cooperation in education, research and innovation. The EC2U Alliance will now extend its scope to a fourth goal: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions (SDG #16).
Thanks to the renewed European funding, EC2U now has the opportunity to strengthen its community through the integration of new universities, starting with the Johannes Kepler University of Linz (Austria). The growth of the EC2U Alliance will not stop there as it will welcome one more new academic member in the coming years.
As the Alliance grows, the associated partners, which already include the municipalities and student associations of the partner universities, will also extend to small and large companies and teaching hospitals.
Furthermore, already in 2022, the network has strengthened, associating with the Ivan Franko University of Lviv (Ukraine), extending the reach of the Alliance beyond the European Union and confirming its support for the Ukrainian people.
EC2U currently brings together a community of more than 200,000 students and more than 25,000 university staff members, reaching more than 2,000,000 citizens. Welcoming a new member and doubling the number of associated partners, the Alliance continues to respond to societal challenges through increased collaboration with European stakeholders.
“The EC2U Alliance represents an important international driving force for our University and its refinancing by the European community confirms the excellent results achieved in the first three years of activity and the effectiveness of the consolidation project foreseen in the coming years through an ever closer interconnection between the European universities that make up the Alliance.
EC2U has demonstrated and will do so increasingly in the future to have a transversal impact not only on all components of our academic community but also on the Pavia area, thanks to the involvement of new stakeholders such as the Policlinico San Matteo, Assolombarda, the CUS and AISEC which join other already consolidated partners, such as the Municipality of Pavia, the Polo Tecnologico, ESN and CIMEA”.
Declared the Rector of the University of Pavia, Prof. Francesco Svelto.
The Vice Rector for Internationalization, Prof. Antonella Forlino, upon learning of the renewal of the funding commented:
“I welcomed the news with great joy and enthusiasm. International Relations in collaboration with all the University Areas have been engaged for three years in carrying on the EC2U Alliance funded in 2020. It was a team effort, a success for our University. The refinancing of EC2U opens up a new, stimulating and even more challenging scenario as the number of partners grows and the time horizon extends. It will be a great challenge that we are ready to accept, confirming that the University of Pavia is certainly a protagonist on the international and European university scene and contributes to the definition of what will be the European university of the future".
Potrebbe interessarti anche
