Aurora, a network of like-minded research-intensive universities, continues its mission to promote collaboration and dialogue among students across the continent. With a deep commitment to advancing higher education, Aurora empowers students to engage in projects that drive social impact and equip them with the skills needed to address global challenges, emphasizing sustainability, innovation, and cross-cultural understanding. 

As part of its efforts to strengthen student involvement, the Aurora Student Council (ASC) has introduced a fresh group of student leaders who will guide the Council’s activities for the upcoming year of 2025. The new members will bring renewed energy and vision to the Council’s work by focusing on creating inclusive and diverse student-led initiatives that align with Aurora’s core values.

Mathilde Chaumont: The New Face of  Student Leadership 

Mathilde Chaumont takes on the prestigious role of President of the Aurora Student Council, embodying the spirit of collaboration and inclusivity that Aurora seeks to promote. With her clear vision and dedication, Mathilde aims to cultivate a sense of unity among students while driving forward important initiatives. In her candidacy, she said: “It would be an honour to represent the ASC and ensure our students’ voices are heard.” 

Sören Daehn: Supporting Innovation as Vice President 

As Vice President, Sören Daehn will work closely with Mathilde to implement the Council’s initiatives and provide strategic direction. His role will be critical in ensuring the council’s smooth operation. He states, “My vision for the vice presidency is, together with the president, to ensure that the ASC and students’ interests are represented, heard and considered on a strategic Aurora-wide level.” 

Andréa Gaucher: Ensuring Transparency as Secretary 

As Secretary, Andréa Gaucher will oversee the Council’s organizational activities, ensuring transparency and effective communication between the student body and university leadership. Her contributions will be key to maintaining transparency within the council and managing student feedback efficiently. 

Paula Mora: Amplifying the Student Voice as Communications Officer 

Paula Mora, as the Communications Officer, will be responsible for amplifying the work of the Aurora Student Council across various platforms, ensuring students remain informed and engaged. Her role will  also be crucial in connecting students with opportunities and encouraging them to participate in Aurora’s diverse range of activities. Therefore, the Aurora Student Council remains committed to representing students’ diverse interests across the Aurora network, creating an inclusive environment where students can thrive academically and personally.

With this new leadership in place, the council is well-positioned to continue fostering unity. Follow the Aurora Student Council’s Instagram to track their latest initiatives and get involved in shaping the future of higher education! 

In the vibrant city of Toulouse, France, the 2024 EAIE (European Association of International Education) conference for higher education professionals spotlighted Aurora universities. From September 17 to 20, over 7,300 global participants gathered to enhance transnational educational cooperation.

The Aurora community contributed to three sessions, each addressing key themes in shaping higher education’s future: fostering mutual benefits through African partnerships, exploring global opportunities, and championing sustainability literacy across university alliances. This event reaffirmed Aurora’s commitment to innovation and collaboration in the global education landscape. The sessions included:

Partnerships with Africa: How to Unlock Mutual Benefits at the Internationalisation of European Universities Alliances: the new frontiers side event.

Hosted by the Université de Toulouse and la Région Occitanie, the Internationalisation of European Universities Alliances side event examined the reasons and methods by which European Universities alliances establish strategic partnerships with universities and stakeholders within and outside the European Union. Across the sessions, European universities’ alliances discussed their internationalisation strategies and approaches and presented case studies on how alliances can forge successful international connections.

The “Partnerships with Africa: How to Unlock Mutual Benefits” panel session, held on Tuesday, September 17, 2024, from 11:40 to 12:45, included Laurent Thevenet, the Vice-Rector for Internationalisation at Université Paris-Est Cretéil. Laurent Thevenet highlighted the need for structured exchange programs to enrich educational opportunities as African students often study in Europe individually. Equally vital is enhancing European students’ experiences in Africa, using initiatives like the real-life learning lab as a practical framework. Increasing intra-African mobility, currently limited, is crucial. Laurent stated, “We must work collaboratively to establish exchange programs and enhance cross-mobility both to and within Africa.”

The session, recorded for later viewing, further addressed challenges in forming partnerships between European and African universities, advocating for diversity and inclusion by engaging a geographically diverse set of African partners and embracing linguistic diversity. Building equitable partnerships requires moving beyond university rankings, focusing on existing collaborations, and supporting African initiatives through funding and research opportunities. Supporting African early career researchers through these partnerships is vital, enabling them to gain valuable experience and contribute positively to their home countries upon returning.

Unlocking Global Opportunities: Outreach Programmes at European University Alliances

On Wednesday, September 18, 2024, from 13:30 to 14:30, the session Unlocking Global Opportunities: Outreach Programmes at European University Alliances delved into the global dimension of European University Alliances. This session was organized by the chairs of ‘Non-EU partnerships’ ForEU2 working group and featured Selma Porobic, Aurora institutional coordinator at Palacký University Olomouc (UPOL), as well as speakers from EUNICE and UNITA.

Selma Porobic presented the results of a survey of 18 alliances on their geopolitical strategy for non-EU collaborations and inclusivity programmes for migrants and refugees. She highlighted the different approaches to non-EU partnerships as an important ambition of all the surveyed Alliances, with one-third of Alliances already pursuing non-EU partnerships. Selma shared noticeable trends in approaches:  “The interest is mostly expressed towards US and Canada, and then Ukraine, and the Western Balkans countries. One major obstacle is, of course, ineligibility of EUIs funding for the associate partners and existing disconnection between the available EU funds to support these pioneering efforts.”

Selma also presented the existing support programmes for integration of migrants and refugees across the Alliances which demonstrated the key focus of these being on the efforts to integrate Ukrainian refugees. These were mostly supported by institutional funding, with only universities in Poland receiving targeted government support.

How European University Alliances are Spearheading Sustainability Literacy for All

Held on Friday, September 20, from 10:30 to 11:30, featuring Christina Raab, Jo Angouri from the University of Warwick (EUTOPIA), and Alexsi Vauhkonen from the University of Helsinki (Una Europa). They explored how European University Alliances tackle similar challenges in developing “Global Challenges” into innovative, scalable, and sustainable formats for students, researchers, and administration. This effort is crucial for a thriving European Higher Education and Research Area. Echoing Einstein’s wisdom, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them,” the session highlighted how these initiatives are successfully creating innovations in learning, teaching, and research, equipping students with essential skills and mindsets.

As the EAIE conference concluded, Aurora universities’ contributions left a lasting impact on the global higher education community. The discussions emphasized the transformative potential of educational landscapes, promoting mutual benefits and cross-border collaborations. The insights from this conference continue to inspire efforts towards an inclusive, sustainable, and interconnected academic future.

In a recent development within the European research and innovation landscape, the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) program has been widely recognised for its crucial role in nurturing talent and driving innovative research. However, its absence from key European Union policy documents, notably Mario Draghi’s report and mission letters for several prominent EU leadership roles, has sparked concern among research and innovation organisations.

Aurora is deeply concerned by this oversight as an active supporter of scientific progress and a dedicated advocate for research talent development. The MSCA program is integral to strengthening Europe’s research capabilities and fostering global collaborations, which are essential for driving economic growth and maintaining Europe’s competitive edge in the global market.

This omission is particularly troubling given MSCA’s alignment with strategic objectives to support the next generation of researchers and foster cross-sector collaboration. Failure to include MSCA risks diminishing the programme’s legacy and potential for future contributions to Europe’s research and innovation landscape.

Aurora encourages all its stakeholders to advocate for the recognition and increased funding that MSCA rightfully deserves. A renewed and strengthened commitment to this program would not only allow the European Union to reaffirm its dedication to research excellence, innovation, and economic growth but also to empower researchers and stimulate even more significant scientific breakthroughs.

For further details and to support this cause, we encourage you to read the joint statement here.

The new millennium is the first “urban millennium”: more people live in cities and towns than in the countryside, and urban settings are now the core sites of economic growth and social interactions. At the same time, too many urban dwellers lack access to public green spaces, public transportation, education, or health care. These are some of the fundamental changes addressed by Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 of the United Nations’ Agenda 2030 (U.N., Transforming Our World, 2015). And these are changes that need to be studied by students and researchers alike.

How Can Universities Contribute to SDG 11. Sustainable Cities and Communities?

The SDG 11 calls on academic research and education to help “make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.” It lists cultural production, education, sports, and mental and physical health among the factors that improve the livability of cities. Aurora scholars, students, and professionals in the fields of literature, culture, society, and medicine ask: what does it take to intervene in urban change, especially if this intervention comes at the very point at which a concrete city becomes a better or a worse place for its human and non-human inhabitants?

There is a new sense that literature and the arts might play a bigger role than previously understood. Novels, poems, pamphlets, films, artwork, music: they all have a special license to connect the past to the present and to the future in fresh and sometimes startling ways. These cultural products explore the uses and consequences of history, they envision a different, formerly untold past, and they imagine a radically new future. And they might be able to change urban planning processes. As Simone d’Antonio, a member of the EU-funded project URBACT suggests, “[s]torytelling is a key tool for improving any urban planning process, both for engaging residents in different dimensions of the spatial regeneration as for helping professionals in better understanding users’ needs”. But how and in what ways has storytelling become crucial to these concise historical, social, and economic interventions? And how can the Aurora European university alliance leverage the power of storytelling to work towards healthy cities?

At the invitation of Barbara Buchenau from University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE), lead of Aurora 2030 Work Package 2 and director of the City Scripts graduate research group funded by the Volkswagen Foundation, the two-day Scripting Futures for Urban Sustainability symposium pursued two interconnected goals:

• First, concerning the proclaimed power of storytelling, key findings were presented from the city scripts research concerning the urban impact of a limited set of stories told about postindustrial cities in the United States and Germany. In examining “legacy cities” (Mallach/Brachman, 2013) like those affected by extractive economies of coal and steel, it was found that the narratives surrounding these places have significant implications for the kinds of futures that become possible. Visions of decline and stories of resilience often equally determine how communities engage with the urban transformations to be mastered. These examples illustrate storytelling’s contradictory roles in all attempts to ‘flip the script’ of any given neighborhood.

• Second, the symposium drew on the expertise of Aurora researchers, students and stakeholders as well as international contributors to explore the potential of concrete changes in urban health management, in urban sports, and planning practice to actually “script” the direction of future social transformations (see Sulimma / Buchenau / Gurr 2023). Together, the task was set to find answers to the following question: What are the chances and the stakes of telling convincing stories about health, sports, and urban planning that allow a fair and equitable contribution to real urban change?

Welcome Address by Barbara Buchenau

Symposium on Scripting Futures for Urban Sustainability

The symposium “Scripting Futures for Urban Sustainability” took place on June 6-7, 2024, at the University of Duisburg-Essen and the College for Social Sciences and Humanities, Essen. This event, generously funded by the Volkswagen Foundation and UDE’s Förderverein, concluded the work of the City Scripts Graduate Research Group (2018-2024) and it launched the Healthy Cities Initiative of the Aurora Transdisciplinary Educational Hubs Culture: Identities and Diversities, and Health & Well-Being.

The symposium brought together 88 participants, including researchers, students, and professionals from the humanities, social sciences, and medical fields, to explore the crucial, yet complex role of storytelling in urban planning and sustainability. The event featured a public lecture by Aurora Fellow for Health and Well-being Marcus Zepf from Université Paris-Est Créteil (UPEC) on “Adaptable and Healthy Cities: Permanent Autopoietic Process,” presentations by researchers from Università Federico II of Naples, Palacký University Olomouc and UDE, a critical intervention by Deputy Mayor of Essen Simone Raskob, and a comparative perspective provided by two members of UNIC, a European university alliance focusing on industrial cities. Additionally, talks by 19 international researchers, a visit by a student delegation from Johns Hopkins University led by the historian Victoria Harms, a book launch, and networking opportunities offered much food for thought.

Students played an active role throughout both days as presenters, interviewers, and critical voices who offered fresh perspectives on the core research question. They directed a poster presentation that showcased their own research in the field, they conducted interviews with participants, and they contributed to discussions with a critical eye, challenging assumptions and proposing new approaches to sustainable urban development.

Students as Critics of Academic Writers. Left to Right: Pia Schümmelfelder (MA student UDE), Jens Gurr (editor of City Scripts, 2023, UDE), Barbara Buchenau (editor of City Scripts, 2023, UDE), and Dana Sitnikov (MA student UDE)

Learning and Research for Healthy Cities

After the event, Mona Gutmann and Jacqueline Ruffen, M.A. students of American Studies at the University of Duisburg-Essen, presented an insightful report on the two-day event. They emphasized key themes and discussion points, focusing especially on the transatlantic comparison between the U.S. Rust Belt and Germany’s Ruhr region. Gutmann and Ruffen examined how both areas coped with deindustrialization and urban transformation. They used their own learning experience to explain the role of storytelling in urban planning, providing a poem by Mona Gutmann to show exemplarily how literature, street art, and architecture can help to bring about more sustainable and inclusive futures.

Additionally, they stressed the symposium’s alignment with UN SDG 11, showing where concrete paths towards inclusive and sustainable urbanization had been mapped out. Gutmann and Ruffen were particularly impressed by discussions on urban health management, gender sensitivity in medical care, and the role of visual and narrative arts in urban interventions. Their report emphasizes the importance of community involvement in urban planning, asking especially for processes that respect and integrate local histories and identities in redevelopment and revitalization projects.

To continue the work begun during the symposium, there will be a student-driven Aurora research workshop titled “Scripting Urban Resilience” hosted by Florian Freitag, Barbara Buchenau, and Zohra Hassan-Pieper in Essen at the College for Social Sciences and Humanities on 15 October 2024. Additionally, Barbara Buchenau (UDE) and Marcus Zepf (UPEC) will conduct an Aurora summer school 2025 called “Scripting Healthy Cities” to further explore sustainable and adaptable urban environments.

Brainstorming for Future European Transdisciplinary Research and Education. Left to Right, Anke Hinney (University Hospital Essen), Marcus Zepf (École d’Urbanisme de Paris, UPEC), Petra Günther (International Office, UDE) and Barbara Buchenau (Faculty of the Humanities, UDE)

Launched in February 2024, Aurora’s first Call for Incentive and Collaborative Research Projects received 26 high-quality applications from all institutions within Aurora, gathering the expertise of 87 research groups from diverse disciplines. Seven projects made the final cut and will receive funding over the next two years. 

The 2024 Call for Incentive and Collaborative Research Projects has been created under Task 5.2 on Academic Collaboration and Community Building of the Aurora 2030 programme supported through the European Universities Initiative by the European Commission. This annual call aims to offer opportunities for young and established academics to further enhance research cooperation within Aurora universities.  

The research proposals funded within the framework of this call have been evaluated on a challenging list of criteria, including their scientific quality, originality and feasibility. Projects also had to demonstrate their added value for the Aurora 2030 programme, in particular their potential to create scientific communities, and, if relevant for their topic, to contribute to the Aurora hubs.

Innovative Projects Make Their Mark 

Following a thorough evaluation process and difficult choices to be made, the Aurora Research Council (ARC) finally selected seven potentially innovative projects for a total available funding of €104,000, counting an average of €15,000 per project. Due to the success of this inaugural call, this amount has indeed been redefined to fund more projects than anticipated. The results of the evaluation have been later confirmed by the Vice-rectors for Research from Aurora universities.    

Funded projects will begin in autumn 2024 and run for the next two years. Without a doubt, success of these projects, and that of the researchers’ scientific work, will enrich the Aurora community and further contribute to the progress within the Aurora hubs. 

Below is the list of successful projects. Detailed information for each project will be made available soon on this website.The results for the Call for Incentive and Collaborative Research Projects 2024 are an encouraging start to fostering tangible, robust scientific and academic collaboration and communities in Aurora universities. Following this initial success, a second call will be launched in early 2025.  In view of the large number of high-quality projects submitted, Aurora hopes to secure more funding for this action in the future.

Get in touch with the office of the Aurora Research Council. 

This past summer, VU Amsterdam hosted its 11th Summer School edition, welcoming 380 students on its campus, including several students from Aurora universities across Europe.

Throughout July and August, VU Amsterdam Summer School provided 24 exceptional short courses designed specifically for students from Bachelor, Master and PhD levels. Lasting between one to two weeks, these highly-intensive courses cover diverse subjects such as international law, environmental science and policy, and statistical research.

Passionate Professors Empowering Future Entrepreneurs

Dedicated professors from the university shared their knowledge and expertise through interactive lectures, challenging group discussions, and  practical assignments. One course in particular, “New Venture Creation in the Amsterdam Entrepreneurial Ecosystem” used a state-of-the-art tool for students to work on their business ideas. Led by professor Enno Masurel, Aurora students were able to envision the potential growth of their start-up ventures through “Business Model Canvas for Start-ups & Scale-ups”.

Beyond business models, Aurora students also reflected on how they could each make a positive impact that responds to the issues within the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Creating A Lasting Impact

The summer school would not have been complete without offering students insights into the Dutch culture. Thanks to the university’s International Office, students explored Amsterdam through an array of cultural activities, including city tours, museum visits and workshops.

The VU Amsterdam Summer School offered a comprehensive and enriching experience. It blended quality academic knowledge and hands-on learning, with immersive cultural activities. The programme’s diverse and inclusive environment fosters cross-cultural understanding and promotes collaboration among students from around the world. It provided  opportunities for students to network, form friendships, and create lasting memories.

How is higher education shaping the future of Europe and charting new pathways for global collaboration? The European Association of International Education’s Conference in Toulouse, France (17-20 September 2024) will provide a unique opportunity to explore answers to this question and many more with real-life examples, testimonials, and facts.

This is the first time that the European Universities Alliances, a flagship initiative of the European Commission and its European Education Area since 2019, will come together and present themselves in a united way at a major international conference. This will allow the international HE community to better understand the dimension of the European Universities Initiative, which is co-funding 64 Alliances today.

By showcasing their collaborative efforts and dynamizing a series of joint activities, European Universities Alliances will take the stand as pioneers of a new paradigm of cooperation in Higher Education, paving their way to a leading role in shaping the global landscape of academia and research. They will also provide insight into their contributions as key actors in a transformative approach aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), viewing Higher Education as the catalyst for building a more resilient, sustainable, and equitable society.

Inspired by the EAIE Conference’s theme En Route!, the Alliances will disseminate their objectives and actions, share the impact created, and communicate information regarding their results on topics such as mobility or new joint programs. They will also present the steps toward the innovative and unprecedented European Degree, a new type of degree awarded jointly by a group of European universities and automatically recognized in the EU. All these efforts will underline an inspiring model for transnational collaboration even amidst challenging times of global conflict.

The Alliances are also offering, as part of the EAIE conference’s programme of activities, a series of sessions covering a wide range of subjects, demonstrating their commitment to innovation in higher education and research.

On behalf of Aurora Christina Raab from the University of Innsbruck and co-lead in T2.5 on Coordination of joint education and joint accreditation, will contribute to the session on How European Universities alliances are spearheading sustainability literacy for all. Similarly, Selma Porobic from Palacký University Olomouc and lead of the T7.3 on Implementation of Capacity Development Programme in CEE will contribute to the session Unlocking global opportunities: Outreach programmes at European University Alliances at EAIE 2024 in Toulouse.

Check the list of sessions proposed by the European Alliances.

Highlight on the Globalization Potential of Alliances

Prior to the initiation of the EAIE Conference, there will be an opportunity to witness the Alliances in joint dialogue at a special side event hosted by the Université de Toulouse and la Région Occitanie on September 17, 2024, at the Hôtel de Région Occitanie from 08:45 to 13:00. Titled “Internationalisation of European Universities Alliances: the new frontiers”, the event will explore why and how European Universities Alliances build strategic partnerships with institutions and stakeholders beyond the European Union. A plenary session will discuss strategies and approaches and present case studies about how alliances can forge successful international connections. Two other sessions will examine partnerships with Ukrainian institutions amidst conflict and post-war reconstruction and cooperation with African partners. This gathering aims to facilitate dialogue between Alliances, non-European higher education institutions, and European, national, and regional policymakers to explore the current state of play and the possible pathways of alliances’ internationalisation. The event will be streamed online.

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The European Universities Alliances are a flagship initiative of the European strategy for universities. They encompass 64 European Universities and alliances with more than 560 higher education institutions across Europe. Check the full list of Alliances by country.

The EAIE Conference is the most important event dedicated to higher education in Europe and the second largest in the world. Its recent venues have been Barcelona (2022) and Rotterdam (2023), where exhibitors and visitors exceeded 5000 participants each year, showing that transnational cooperation is now a growing sector of influence and action in a more and more globalized and interconnected world of higher education systems.

Created in May 2024, the Aurora Research Council (ARC) is a cross-disciplinary committee represented by senior researchers from Aurora member universities and student representatives.

Developed under the Aurora 2030 Work Package 5 for Enhancing Quality of Research Through An Aurora Research and Innovation Community, the Aurora Research Council (ARC) is conceived as part of Task 5.2 on Academic Collaboration and Community Building. The ARC comprises two senior researchers from each of the nine Aurora member universities. Its responsibility is to evaluate and select proposals submitted following the annual Call for Incentive Research Collaboration.

Today, the ARC counts 18 members, plus Professor Matthias Beekmann of Université Paris-Est Créteil (UPEC), who leads Task 5.2 and acts as the council President. Members come from different academic disciplines ranging from analytical chemistry, astrophysics, law, health and life sciences, to economic sciences, history, and archeology. The ARC’s cross-disciplinarity enables a wider perspective for a 360-degree evaluation of the received proposals. The council is completed by two student representatives (designated by Aurora’s student council).

Successful First Annual Call for Incentive Research Collaboration

Launched in February 2024, Aurora’s first annual Call for Incentive Research Collaboration generated 42 applications from universities within Aurora. These applications responded to the following key actions:

• Key Action 1: Incentive and Collaborative Research Projects

Concrete exploratory research activities emphasising [MB1] the complementarity of diverse competencies and approaches resulting from research cooperation.

• Key Action 2: Thematic Summer Schools

Provide opportunities for early-stage researchers (Master 2, Phd and postdocs) to develop their careers, share knowledge and build a professional network through disciplinary training.

• Key Action 3: Short-term Research Secondments for Early-stage Researchers

Short-term mobility of up to three months in a research laboratory or unit of Aurora member universities with the aim to foster academic collaboration between Aurora  research units, and again helping young researchers in career development.

General criteria for the selection of proposals include  their scientific quality, originality and novelty.. In addition, candidates must develop a strong argumentation for the Aurora added value of the intended collaboration and community building.

More specifically for Key Action 1, their proposals should show how they aim to build the Aurora Research and Innovation community. For Key Actions 1 and 2, it is mandatory for candidates to involve researchers from three member universities within Aurora.

“The ARC was delighted by the generally high quality of the proposals received, the large range of disciplines covered, the fact that intended collaborations between groups from partner universities and contributions to AURORA hubs were well put forward,” says Matthias Beekmann.

Rigorous Evaluation Process

The ARC has met two times since the closing of the call at the end of April 2024. The first meeting took place online. During this meeting, council members established the evaluation process and designated reviewers for the 42 submitted proposals (two for each project in Key Actions 1 and 2; one for Key Action 3 projects) .

The second meeting was held in-person at the end of June 2024 in UPEC, with one representative per university being physically present, while others connected to the meeting online. The objective of this day-and-a-half meeting was to discuss, assess and select projects for funding for those who have succeeded in meeting the criteria set in the call. The selection of the ARC is to be approved by Aurora’s Vice-rectors for Research (VRRs) in August 2024. Announcement of successful proposals will take place at the beginning of the next academic year 2024/2025.

During the Aurora Spring Biannual 2024, academics and researchers Barbara Buchenau, Lina Penagos and Pasquale Maffia engaged in a conversation on health and well-being, joint education and how new study programmes can be invented, in which not only students and educators are involved, but also researchers, stakeholders and professionals in the fields for which our students are being trained. They will also discuss how research plays a critical role in creating innovative programmes using a transdisciplinary approach.

This conversation was led by Barbara Buchenau, professor of North American Studies from the University of Duisburg-Essen and Lead for Aurora 2030 Work Package 2 (WP2) for Transdisciplinary European Research-driven Educational Hubs. She interviewed Pasquale Maffia, professor of Cardiovascular Immunology at the University of Glasgow in the United Kingdom and professor of Pharmacology at the Università Federico II of Naples (UNINA). Pasquale leads Task 2.3 on Establishing the Hub for Health & Well-Being within WP2, alongside Co-lead Lina Penagos, researcher in the field of Peace and Development, as well as Project Manager of EUR-LIVE project at the Université Paris-Est Créteil (UPEC).

Transdisciplinarity in Education and Research in Health and Well-being

Barbara: Today, we’re here with Lina Penagos from UPEC and Pasquale Maffia from UNINA. I’m Barbara Buchenau from the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany. What we have here is a sociologist, someone in the medical field, and me in cultural studies. The three of us are trying to do something in the Health and Well-being hub, trying to improve our education in health and well-being, and trying to wrap our minds around the fact that education in health and well-being is always a national affair.

Although health and well-being do not really care for national borders, our educational systems do. What needs to change in our education and in our research? Lina, what would you say is the most pressing element in what you’re doing right now?

Lina: What we’re facing are complex problems, and it is important to educate and train people in transdisciplinary thinking and methodology. To enable this, we need to combine our forces, which is what we’re doing within this hub. This is a very good example: I’m a political scientist, Pasquale is in pharmacology, and you’re in cultural studies.

In Paris, we have many examples of people in medicine and people working on cultural issues, who need to share their work with others to be able to respond to our societal challenges. For instance, we have students from different disciplines – environment, sociology and medicine – who have successfully worked together by trying to solve specific vulnerability issues.

Barbara: So it’s not that we’re trying to unlearn our disciplinary languages, but that we’re trying to learn to use our disciplinary languages across disciplines to allow them to address a problem together, such as urban developments in Paris, for instance.

Another example is cardiovascular health care. It’s a hugely diversified topic in terms of how it affects women and men, how it is visible in people who are dark-skinned or light-skinned. Very often, people are actually suffering from diseases because patients and doctors cannot properly identify these diseases. Pasquale, can you tell us more?

Pasquale: We’re developing some projects in Africa at the moment where we need to face the issue of working together between different disciplines in a multidisciplinary manner. Also, we need to be as inclusive as possible of the diversity present on the ground. For example, when we’re trying to implement a programme for controlling blood pressure in people living in slums, it’s impossible to have only doctors engaging with them because sometimes, people don’t always listen to doctors. So, we need to engage with local stakeholders and social scientists who can explain to us the diversity and priorities for these specific social settings.

Today, working together within different disciplines and in a global environment is fundamental. Translating all of this at the teaching level and interacting with students is crucial. This is what we are trying to do with the Health and Well-being hub in Aurora.

Workshop on Vulnerability

Barbara: At the Aurora Spring Biannual, we held a workshop where many disciplines, students, and stakeholders came together. How are we able to talk together as professionals in cultural studies, humanities, medical field, and social sciences?

Lina: We’re trying to build things. Together. Building things together requires the participation of everyone – stakeholders, researchers and students. Students are at the heart of what we’re doing. During this Workshop on Vulnerability, we had the opportunity to learn from different experiences from researchers, and students who are studying vulnerability and aging, which is also a societal issue.

It was important to share each other’s experiences in these fields during the workshop. It helped us to understand, first from a scientific point of view, and then, how to collaborate and cooperate in pedagogical elements so that we can build joint programmes and courses together, which is the aim of our activities in the Health and Well-being hub in Aurora.

Barbara: During the workshop, we also organised “lunch trains” as a way to connect people across disciplines and across student, researcher, educator, and practitioner levels. That’s just one of the ways we started conversations. For instance, in the 17^th century, “vulnerability” as a concept was used to defend slavery. The term itself thus has a long cultural history that has worked well but that has also damaged a lot of human lives. I think it’s an important concept to address neutrally across the disciplines.

Bridging the Gap to Respond to Sustainable Development Goals

Barbara: Our universities are founded in regions in the middle of urban settings where urban planners find that education must be brought in to bring about positive change. That is one of the major questions for us: can education and can universities bring about positive change and contribute to the United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?

Pasquale: We’re trying to address some of the 17 goals developed by the United Nations to make a better world, like health inequalities, better education, and improving health and well-being.

The Workshop on Vulnerability was held in the new building of the Università Federico II of Naples in Scampia, a socially deprived area. This was an initiative undertaken by the university to interact with areas that are less fortunate than the city of Naples. The workshop brought a lot of exchange with the local people.

Lina: UPEC is at the heart of one of the most vulnerable places in the southeast of Paris. Our philosophy is to be aligned with the SDGs. So, all our pedagogical and scientific activities are aligned with good health and well-being, gender equality, as well as the different partnerships we’re organising together.

It’s a very important contribution of us and the participants in the workshop, hoping to build things together from the experiences we share. If we’re trying to address societal issues, we need to begin from shared experiences. This is exactly what we’re doing in Aurora.

This exchange is part of a series called “A Conversation With…” undertaken within the framework of the Aurora 2030 project supported by the European Commission. It is an interview format that focuses on a specific subject and is meant to inspire its readers to act and catalyse positive impact. This conversation is available in its original format on the Aurora YouTube channel.