Unite! supports the manifesto for the future of universities in Europe
The Manifesto presents the students’ ideas on the future of Higher Education in Europe, as well as some recommendations to make European universities more in line with their expectations.
2022/04/01
In the perspective of the Conference on the Future of Europe which took place this past January, students from Bachelor’s to PhD from all European universities were invited to design a manifesto. This Conference was designed to be an incubator for new proposals for shaping the university of tomorrow, involving national authorities, the European Commission and drawing in particular on the feedback from the 41 alliances set up under the “European Universities” initiative.
Because universities are at the forefront of innovation and host an increasing number of students and European citizens, they should be the leaders of global change in our common future. European students were the actors and writers of this manifesto, which is a public statement setting up an agenda for action. It compiles their interests for challenges ahead and their awareness that Europe and European alliances are the appropriate level to answer the key issues of our time.
Unite! has already expressed its support at the institutional level:
“Unite! supports the manifesto since our alliance believes in the essential importance of listening to students’ ideas and recommendations when it comes to shape the future of our Higher Education in Europe. Thus, Unite! welcomes all of its students, teachers and staff members to support and sign the manifesto.”
Unite!’s Secretary General, Andreas Winkler
Within Unite!’s student community, the members of SURE!, the student forum within Unite!, also wish to express their support for the Manifesto for the future of universities in Europe:
“We believe that a common goal shared by all students within the European University Alliances is the first step towards true cooperation and collaboration between universities, something that Unite! strives to promote.
Unity and understanding between European students is needed to progress towards an equal yet diverse, and sustainable yet technologically advanced Europe. A European common degree would be of great help towards this goal. Thus, we support this manifesto’s proposal for a joint degree, as it also ensures the cultural and linguistic identity of each country.”
Unite! SURE!
Unite!/mho
About Unite!
Alongside TU Darmstadt as the coordinator,Unite! (University Network for Innovation, Technology and Engineering) also includes Aalto University (Finland), KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden), Grenoble Institute of Technology (France), Politecnico di Torino (Italy), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (Spain) and Universidade de Lisboa (Portugal).
The seven partner universities aim to use the European University to create a trans-European campus for students and researchers with the involvement of regions and companies. The partners have a total of 167,000 students, already cooperate closely in more than 80 EU projects and have exchanged more than 2,000 students in the past five years. The alliance has set itself the goal of combining courses for the benefit of students, breaking down existing technical and administrative hurdles, and thus significantly increasing student mobility. Research will also benefit from the conditions created for larger and easier cooperation, which will strengthen the competitiveness of the European Higher Education Area overall.
