Helsinki joins UNA Europa to build European ‘ of the future’

On 4 October, UNA Europa welcomed a prestigious new partner to their alliance, the University of .

UNA Europa is an alliance of research‐led European , which will be granted 5 million euros of EU funding to launch their project in December. The project aims to create a new European University ecosystem equipped to address the challenges of the future.

The announcement that world leading , Helsinki, was joining UNA Europa took place at the alliance’s General Assembly, hosted by the . This inaugural meeting brought together 100 staff across all partner institutions.

Helsinki joins UNA Europa alliance partners, Freie Universität Berlin, Alma mater Studiorum Università di , the University of Edinburgh, Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie, KU Leuven, Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Université Paris 1 Panthéon‐Sorbonne.

UNA Europa’s partner universities have been forming Europe’s intellectual tradition for almost 1000 years. The partners’ shared heritage and ambition to shape Europe’s future are a driving force in the alliance’s strategy, and they welcome Helsinki as one of their own.

“The is a committed Nordic partner who brings a new and strong Nordic and Arctic dimension to UNA Europa’s diverse research, educational, linguistic and cultural portfolio. Bringing complementary strengths to the UNA Europa four focus areas, it makes us even better equipped to address the challenges of the future,” says Professor Alessandra Scagliarini, Vice‐ at Alma mater Studiorum Università di Bologna and Chair of the UNA Europa Board of Directors

Vice‐Rector Hanna Snellman, who is responsible for the UNA Europa alliance at Helsinki said: “This is a really significant step for the University of Helsinki. We are building an entirely new kind of strategic partnership with our European partners.”

By joining the UNA Europa alliance, the University of Helsinki will have the opportunity to take part in the 1EUROPE project from its early stages; the project’s aim is to create new concepts for international , and research.

The partners anticipate that Helsinki’s presence in the alliance will increase UNA Europa’s impact and increase its chances of attracting competitive funding.

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“The University of Helsinki is world‐renowned for its research in university and has significant hubs of creativity for blended and online learning, thereby bringing innovative insights and tools into UNA Europa,” said Emily Palmer, Secretary‐General of UNA Europa.

About the UNA Europa Alliance and 1EUROPE project Seven leading research universities (Freie Universität Berlin, the , the University of Edinburgh, the in Kraków, KU Leuven, the Complutense University of Madrid and the University of Paris 1 Panthéon‐Sorbonne ) joined forces in 2018 to create UNA Europa, a unique alliance aiming to lay strong foundations for the European university of the future. The University of Helsinki joined the alliance in October 2019.

“1EUROPE will foster a true international education to all via physical mobility, blended and digital learning, covering all geographical regions and many linguistic corners of the continent and will allow the partner universities to test new innovative formats for international education,” Professor Peter Lievens, Vice‐rector at KU Leuven and Coordinator of the 1EUROPE project.

The partners are committed to developing in‐depth cooperation and long‐term integration between them, focusing on excellent and innovative research and teaching, as well as boosting international opportunities for students and staff. Aiming to go beyond traditional geographical and disciplinary boundaries, the collaboration will result in a ‘multi‐campus’ university model, ensuring that graduates and researchers are equipped to shape the future.

1EUROPE is the three‐year pilot project funded under the + Pilot Call for European Universities, which will be formally launched in December 2019. UNA Europa is among the first 17 university alliances to receive this prestigious funding. The European Universities action funds bottom‐up networks of universities to establish a long‐term joint strategy for education, a European inter‐university campus and knowledge‐creating teams address societal challenges.

Following one year of intensive collaboration between the UNA Europa partners, the UNA Europa association (vzw) was formally established in Brussels. The goals of the UNA Europa association are to ensure the success and sustainability of the alliance and to actively contribute to the development of the European and Research Areas. https://www.una‐europa.eu/

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