European University Alliances at the heart of the Europe Forum debates in Turku

  • European University Alliances at the heart of the Europe Forum debates in Turku
Breadcrumb
On the 30th of August & 1st of September, the Europe Forum was held in Turku. This hybrid aims at launching a joint EU debate between citizens, policymakers and various societal actors.

The Europe Forum, created 6 years ago, is organized by the association “Eurooppa-Foorumi Turussa ry”. The Europe Forum promotes open, science-based dialogue between citizens and policymakers. It is a flagship event for societal debate on the future of Europe, the development of the European Union, and Finland’s role in Europe.

As a member of the association, the University of Turku took part in this year’s edition, where about 800 participants met on site during the 3 days of conferences, and hundreds either joined during the livestream or watched the recordings.

 

“European Universities and Alliances for excellence: Reaching towards new Frontiers with Northern America”

Watch the session (starting time 4:03:45)

Opening talk: Vanessa Debiais-Santon, Head, Higher Education Policy, European Commission.
Panellists: Officer Susan Bridenstine (Public diplomacy section at US. Embassy Helsinki), rector Jukka Kola (University of Turku), rector Mikael Lindfelt (University Åbo Akademi) and CEO Terhi Mölsä (Fulbright Finland Foundation)
Moderator: prof. Ludovic Thilly (University of Poitiers, France, coordinator of the EC2U Alliance)

This panel discussion takes its force from the fact that European higher education strives for recognition also outside Europe. Altogether, the world needs research aiming to solve major issues and problems. Quality of higher education is constantly seeking its best form. One solution for this has been the formation of 44 European University Alliances. According to the European Commission, “the European Universities are transnational alliances that will lead the way towards the universities of the future, promoting European values and identity, and revolutionizing the quality and competitiveness of European higher education.” With this panel, we argue that the Alliances need to build a strong outreach outside Europe. One wise direction of this is to build collaboration and strategic partnerships with Northern American outstanding universities.

Main themes in the discussion will be: What do the European (and Finnish) Universities look like from the perspective of the US? What should be done in order to match with the perceived level of excellence, strategies and collaboration? What can we learn from each other in the sense of HE policy and science diplomacy?