EC2U Alliance receives 14.4M funding from the European Commission
Currently bringing together more than 200,000 students and over 25,000 researchers, faculty and staff members, EC2U started to be designed in 2018 and has developed multiple actions to boost mobility since its first funding was awarded in 2020.
The European Campus of Cities-Universities (EC2U Alliance), coordinated by the University of Poitiers and with the University of Coimbra as one of its seven members, has just received a funding of 14.4 million euros under the 2023 European Universities call, launched by the European Commission.
This pan-European campus has been connecting academic communities, citizens, and stakeholders since 2020, through a network of shared initiatives aimed at promoting mobility – including virtual institutes and three joint masters’ degrees in the areas of sustainability, aging, European languages and cultures, as well as virtual Institutes – within a community of over 200 000 students and 25 000 staff members from 7 European universities: University of Coimbra, University of Iași, University of Jena, University of Pavia, University of Poitiers (Coordinator), University of Salamanca and the University of Turku. This renewed funding will allow the Alliance to welcome the Johannes Kepler University of Linz (Austria) as a new member.
The Rector of the University of Coimbra, Amílcar Falcão, states that "the new funding awarded to EC2U confirms the quality of the work developed by the seven universities and their strategic partners, aimed at fostering synergies to boost mobility, knowledge production and teaching, in an inclusive and innovative way".
"This funding is the European Commission's recognition of all of our work and, in particular, of our commitment to European values, which is also clear in the strategic partnership of the EC2U Alliance with the Ukrainian University of Lviv," claims the Vice-Rector for External Relations and Alumni, João Nuno Calvão da Silva, general coordinator of the project at the UC.
In a continuous cooperation between universities, cities, and associated partners, the EC2U Alliance develops several activities with a unique mobility component, which foster intercultural learning, peer-to-peer exchange, and a shared sense of European identity, aimed at the promotion of innovation, entrepreneurship and employability, as well as to encourage cooperation initiatives in education and research through virtual institutes, lifelong learning, and entrepreneurial and joint innovation opportunities.
Since its inception, the EC2U Alliance decided to promote an unprecedented challenge-based global initiative framed by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Three UNSDGs guided the activities during the first years of the Alliance: Good Health and Well-being (SDG #3), Quality Education (SDG #4), Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG #11). EC2U is now extending its scope to SDG #16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.
Ludovic Thilly, Coordinator General of the EC2U Alliance, says that “EC2U is a vision and aims at the build-up of the University of the Future, as an open and inclusive space where everyone participates to the creation and dissemination of knowledge. EC2U is about shared values, where all talents are at the service of society”.