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.

From 17 to 28 June, Université Paris-Est Créteil (UPEC) hosted its first-ever Aurora Summer School on Futures Literacy and social foresight. The two-week course focused on training students from Aurora universities to reframe today’s challenges to better anticipate the impact of decisions taken for the future.

Held at AEI International School in UPEC, the Aurora Summer School welcomed 26 students from UPEC, University of Iceland, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Università Federico II of Naples and Copenhagen Business School. Over a fortnight, our students were exposed to an immersive educational and intercultural experience.

Anticipating Tomorrow Today  

The Aurora Summer School in UPEC introduced our students to the disciplines in social entrepreneurship, prospective studies and social innovation. Its objective is to encourage them to master the skills to prepare for the future by addressing today’s complex societal challenges.

The programme included courses that were designed to enable our students to understand how actions and decisions can have a real impact on society. By learning the fundamentals of Futures Literacy, they looked at issues touching social, societal, economic and entrepreneurial aspects.

Led by professor Felipe Koch, Vice-Dean of AEI International School at UPEC, the first week of the summer school began with comprehensive lectures and practical sessions on the topic of Futures Studies. These sessions took place in the Futures Literacy Laboratory, where our students experimented with innovative methods to drive transformative change.

Week two of the summer school further broadened perspectives and provided our students exposure to a wide range of expertise. Renowned speakers included:

• Philippe Frouté, Dean of AEI International School, UPEC, lectured on data analysis and forecasting.
• Fabio Scarano, UNESCO Chair on Futures Literacy: Planetary Wellbeing and Regenerative Anticipation, spoke on regenerative futures.
• Rocco Scolozzi, professional futurist, trainer and facilitator, explained the implementation of systems thinking.
• Dr Fernando Bozza, lead researcher at the World Health Organization (WHO), exchanged on social innovation, entrepreneurship and managing decision-making under deep uncertainty.

Intercultural Exchange in the Heart of Paris 

One of the benefits of student mobility between Aurora universities is the possibility for a rich intercultural exchange. Incoming students get to learn more about the French culture while also being introduced to other European cultures, thanks to the diversity of the students coming from different universities within Aurora.

The Office of International Affairs at UPEC organised two cultural visits in the heart of Paris:

• Opéra Garnier on the theme Intermezzo: Our students discovered the history of Palais Garnier, its unique 19^th century theatre art architecture and the various artistic activities undertaken by the Parisian opera house.
• Seine river cruise: Through a guided cruise by some of the most beautiful monuments viewed from the Seine river, our students learnt more about Parisian culture and the city’s historical heritage. 

The Aurora Summer School at UPEC was a huge success for the university that officially joined Aurora as full member in 2023. Since its entry into the Aurora European university alliance, UPEC has been co-leading two strategic work packages in the Aurora 2030 project: Enhancing Quality of Research through an Aurora Research and Innovation Community, and Impact and Dissemination.

Aurora made important progress in mobility and internationalisation during the Aurora Spring Biannual held in Naples this May. These key advances were undertaken within Aurora 2030 Work Package 8 (WP8) for Enabling Mobility and Exchange, led by Marina Vives of Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) and Nanna Teitsdóttir from University of Iceland.

During the task team meeting, several universities have presented their institutional mobility plans. Key updates on mobility and internationalisation include the publication of the Aurora Mobility Guidelines for all Aurora universities and a Course Fact Sheet to support student mobility opportunities. The short-term mobility process description and the Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) Handbook are also nearing completion. In addition, Marina and Nanna highlighted some relevant achievements and announced some changes on the composition, as well as upcoming initiatives.

Celebrating Collaborative Success

The meeting offered an opportunity to reflect on successful past events such as the recent Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) fair and COIL training organised by WP8, attracting over 70 participants. Additionally, the SUCTI (Systemic University Change Towards Internationalisation) training in Tarragona received positive participation and feedback. Looking ahead, future initiatives will include a sub-task on inclusivity, focusing on the inclusive mobility report, a students’ empowerment training, a BIP capacity development for instructors and an Intercultural Communication training for teachers.

The group also highlighted the great contributions by Barbara Tasser of Universität Innsbruck since the beginning of Aurora. Barbara will cease her participation in the WP8 from Fall on, given an internal re-distribution at the university level. Other changes within WP8 include:

• Verena Heuking of University of Duisburg-Essen, who will now co-lead Task 8.3 on Internationalisation of Institutional Cultures substituting Marina Casals, who has left the URV
• Valeria Constantino of Università Federico II of Naples will join Task Team 8.1 to Increase Mobility and Standardise Procedures
• Larissa Jenewein of Universität Innsbruck has also joined Task Team 8.2 on Internationalisation at Home
• Martina Buráňová, starting July 2024, will now be the contact person for Palacký University Olomouc, replacing Marek Sekanina.

European Universities alliances are joining forces in a project called FOR-EU4All. The project brings together all current and future European Universities alliances—numbering over 60—into a unified, cohesive structure. The goal is to foster a collaborative and supportive environment where best practices and experiences can be shared not only among the alliances themselves but also with the broader European Higher Education (HE) sector.

As flagships of the European Education Area (EEA) and the European Research Area (ERA), European Universities alliances are leading the way in developing new and innovative concepts for deep transnational institutional cooperation to stimulate long-lasting transformation of European higher education as a whole.

Evolution of the FOR-EU Network

The informal alliance network FORum of European Universities (FOR-EU) has been in place since the start of the European Universities initiative (EUI). Alliance experts have been brought together across countries and institutions to form active communities on strategic topics, such as education cooperation, governance, research & innovation dimension of alliances, or student engagement. FOR-EU has currently 20+ subgroups in place and different parallel fora where the coordinators and alliances’ experts meet. Due to the increasingly large-scale nature and impact of the EUI, a merger of all FOR-EU groups is now necessary, and dedicated resources are required.

Formalising Collaboration

FOR-EU4All will reflect the fruitful collaboration and related extensive expertise that exists in FOR-EU. It will merge, formalise, and scale up the informal processes and structures that naturally developed over the past four years, and focus on supporting efficient administration, coordination, communication and dissemination. Moreover, FOR-EU4All will strongly focus on linkages with the wider HE sector, collaboration with existing networks and stakeholder representatives, as well as engagement with decision-makers on both achievements and challenges related to the EUI. This is also reflected in the project name, we simply are stronger together. Outreach activities and the dissemination of good practices and learnings are expected to help bringing transnational cooperation in HE in Europe to the next level.

Commitment to EEA and ERA Objectives

European Universities alliances are committed to contributing to the realisation of both the EEA and ERA policy objectives. In collaboration with stakeholders, this project will furthermore focus on addressing challenges to transnational collaboration that persist in the EHEA to date – ranging from joint educational provision to mobility as well as digital and R&I collaboration. With FOR-EU4All, alliances are committed to working together with each other, with relevant stakeholders and policy-makers to overcome obstacles to transnational collaboration and to realise the long-lasting transformation of European higher education.

The FOR-EU4All project has been awarded 1.8 million euros by the European Commission and should last 48 months, starting on the 1 November 2024. The European University Association – EUA, the European Students’ Union – ESU, the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education – ENQA, the European Association of Institutions in Higher Education – EURASHE and the Erasmus Student Network – ESN are associated partners of the project.

On May 28, during the Spring Biannual hosted in Naples, Italy, the project management team of the Aurora 2030 project came together during a workshop to carve out pathways for better collaboration and synergy within work packages (WPs). The workshop was attended by work package leads and co-leads, all focused on identifying how their collective efforts could be more effectively aligned.  

Workshop Objectives

The workshop aimed to create a more cohesive and robust management framework for better outcomes. It is part of a series of activities that will take place over the next three years. Organized by the management team (WP1), it sought to maintain strong connections between WP leads by fostering a collaborative environment, encouraging mutual support among WPs, and reducing redundancy and double reporting. 

“Our goal is to foster a collaborative environment where leaders can identify synergies and opportunities. By working together and maintaining open lines of communication, we can address challenges proactively and strengthen each other’s efforts,” said Maria José Montaña Correa, Project Manager for Aurora 2030. 

Primarily, the workshop focused on identifying new synergies and possibilities to secure the sustainability of the Aurora 2030 activities. 

Key Areas of Synergy 

Several critical areas for increasing synergies were identified during the workshop: 

• Aligned Efforts: The need to align efforts across various WPs was emphasized to ensure that resources, initiatives, and reporting are not duplicated. This alignment is essential for maximizing the impact of the project’s activities. 

• Funding and Educational Opportunities: Exploring possibilities for funding new educational offers was a priority. This includes discovering innovative ways to support existing and future educational initiatives. 

• Student Needs and Interests: Students expressed their desire for innovative inter- and transdisciplinary courses. The discussion also focused on alternative ways of mobility, while some of the leads proposed innovative approaches to financing new opportunities.

Reporting and Continuous Improvement 

To maintain transparency and keep everyone informed, ongoing communication and regular reporting are crucial. These types of workshops are the ideal opportunity to align on the reporting cycle. During the meeting, the project management team launched the newest version of the Aurora 2030 Handbook, where the reporting processes and needs are presented together with the communications guidelines and other useful tools.  

In conclusion, the Spring Biannual leadership workshop in Naples successfully laid the groundwork for increased synergy and collaboration within the Aurora 2030 project. The teams continue strengthening their collaborative efforts by addressing key areas such as funding, student needs, and better alignment.