Delegates from eight of the nine EC2U partner universities attended, highlighting the alliance’s joint commitment to sustainability, educational innovation, and cross-border collaboration. Among the 65 European University Alliances supported by the European Commission, 35 were present at the event, contributing to discussions on the future direction of the European Higher Education Area.
Throughout the week, EC2U co-hosted an information booth together with Epicur, another European University Alliance. This shared space acted as a central meeting point for visibility and exchange, enabling participants to learn more about ongoing initiatives and opportunities for future partnerships. It also provided a setting for networking and strengthening inter-alliance cooperation.
EC2U representatives joined high-level meetings, thematic sessions, and collaborative exchanges on priority topics such as the development of joint degrees and student engagement.
Alberto Forte, Coordinator of the EC2U Alliance Unit at the University of Pavia, Italy, reflected on his participation:
« I have mostly followed sessions focused on European Universities Innitiative: either with experts of the European Commission, gaining insights in particular on the future of the European Universities Innitiative in the framework of the current discussions on the next Multiannual Financial Framework 2028-34 and with representatives of other Alliances, sharing best practices and bringing in the discussions some EC2U best practices, like the involvement of municipalities, the creation of support task forces for joint Erasmus+ and Horizon applications, some aspects of EC2U’s strategy to evaluate the impact of our activities, the digital tool for the management of Joint Master Degrees students careers, etc.I also had meetings in the framework of FORE4ALL and with the Italian Erasmus+ Agency INDIRE, to explore possible synergies among Italian universities participating in the European Universities Initiative and our National Agency. »
