On the 9th and 10th of November, the Aurora virtual Biannual took place, hosted by the University of Duisburg-Essen. Barbara Albert, Rector of the University of Duisburg-Essen, and Jon Ali Benediktsson, Aurora President and the Rector University of Iceland, welcomed the participants, encouraging them to choose sustainability above all else.
Rector Barbara Albert said: “Now more than ever, we become aware that the big challenges of humanity like climate crisis, peacebuilding, sustainable energy supply, or migration do not stop at national borders. As director of one of Germany’s ten largest universities, it is my strong belief that international cooperation between ambitious and sustainable-oriented universities can be one of the key drivers of progress when it comes to finding solutions to these major challenges.”
Aurora President Jon Atli Benediktsson emphasised the importance of sustainable travel and inter-university collaboration that results in opportunities for staff, students, and the community at large.
The conference also highlighted the future activities of the Aurora Network. Anne-May Janssen, Aurora Secretary-General, discussed the role of universities being drivers of positive social change and ensuring graduates can affect that change in society. She said that, ” […] the role of universities in affecting that change has become increasingly important and the developments over the past years globally.” She continued with the message that the Aurora Network can help its members fulfil those roles. In order to do that, the Aurora Network will focus its work on the following activities:
In the Back to the Future of the Aurora Alliance session, Sabine Allain Sainte-Rose shared key results of the various work packages and task teams. Some of them included:
Aurora is a partnership of like-minded and closely collaborating research‑intensive European universities, who use their academic excellence to drive societal change.
Co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union
This project has received funding from the European Union´s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101035804
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