On the occasion of welcoming two new partners and confirming the entire partnership, the E³UDRES² alliance organised on 8 June 2022 a celebration event at the Permanent representation of Austria in Brussels, Belgium.

The Commissioner Mariya Gabriel’s letter to the representatives of the alliance appreciated the focus and profile of E³UDRES² alliance, its contribution to developing European solutions to regional problems, involvement of a wide range of students and regional stakeholders. The importance of higher education role in European development, seeking common answers to societal solutions and appreciation of the progress in implementing the vision of the European Education Area were underlined in an opening address by Ilze Juhansone, the Secretary General of the European Commission.

The following panel discussion brought together views of various actors and stakeholders. Vanessa Debiais-Sainton, head of HE policy unit, DG EAC EC, appreciated the diversity of missions and institutions within the European university alliances, the hard work of all engaged, but called also for further ambitious goals including further joint learning provisions including exploring potential of the concept of European degrees. Karl Dittrich, EQAR President, called for coherence across Europe, finding bold, flexible solutions in a benefit of students without building further administrative layers. Johannes Bade, Head of Unit Higher Education, Research and the Arts, Representation of the State of Hessen to the European Union focused mostly on the role of public authorities in supporting the enhancement of higher education capacity, yet also the potential role of universities of applied sciences as facilitators of cooperation within regional ecosystems. Alexandru Luca, student at the University Politehnika Timisoara, was very positive about the potential of European university alliances for students, role in innovation and modernisation of higher education across Europe and necessity of engaging students as partners and co-creators of the vision. He emphasised an importance of inclusion of all diverse groups of learners based on targeted solutions. The rich and not formal exchange following the starting statements discussed panellists’ various views on the role of university for European response to skills and talent development, strong potential the E³UDRES² alliance can play in linking respective regions and their communities, but especially attractiveness and benefits of cross-European cooperation in higher education, flexibility of learning and easy recognition of learning achievements.

During the final ceremony representatives of eight E³UDRES² alliance partners signed the Partnership agreement committing themselves to a joint, coordinated long-term strategic cooperation.

The representatives of the E³UDRES² alliance were

Hannes Raffaseder, Chief Research and Innovation Officer, UAS St. Pölten, Austria
Gernot Kohl, Chief Executive Officer, UAS St. Pölten, Austria
Ângela Lemos, President of Polytechnic Institute of Setubal, Portugal
Istvan Szabo, vice-rector of Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Hungary
Marc Vandewalle, General Director of University College Leuven – Limburg, Belgium
Florin Dragan, Rector of Politehnika University Timisoara, Romania
Gatis Krūminš, Council Member of Vidzeme UAS, Latvia
Karim Khakzar, President of Fulda UAS, Germany
Janko Bonnink, director Education and Student Support, Saxion UAS, the Netherlands