AUAS: U!REKA bids to create the European university of the future

The Urban Research and Education Knowledge Alliance (U!REKA) consortium has launched a bid to take part in the 2019 European Universities pilot project.

The European Universities is a pilot project funded under the European Commission’s Erasmus+ programme to develop new models of collaboration in higher education to build the European universities of the future. The pilot projects sees higher education institutions working together so that a new generation of creative Europeans are able to cooperate across languages, borders and disciplines to address the big societal challenges and skills shortages that Europe faces.

These objectives resonate very strongly with all of the members of the U!REKA alliance and presents them with the unique opportunity to be a pioneer in European higher education development.

U!REKA: partners in research and education 

The Urban Research and Education Knowledge Alliance (U!REKA) is a network of six European Universities, formed in 2016, which includes Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Edinburgh Napier University, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Metropolia University of Applied Sciences in Helsinki, Oslo Metropolitan University and University College Ghent (HOGENT).

Over two years on since the alliance began, collaborative activities across all of our institutions have flourished such as staff and student mobility projects, yearly academic conferences, departmental visits or collaborative research projects. We are now looking forward to do more together as part of a U!REKA European University that will add further value to our shared approach of professional education.

“The European Universities application enables the partners to make a great stride towards the development of an European institution, whereby the partners can implement their shared vision of education and also provide a major boost to the exchange opportunities for students and employees,” says Huib de Jong, Executive Board Chairman at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences.

U!REKA European University vision

The vision for the U!REKA European University, co-developed by all partners will centre around:

• Sharing and adding value through international collaborative teaching projects: built on our common experience of delivering education with integrated practical experiences and linking these with international collaborative opportunities.

• Inclusion and Diversity: actions that will support our common mission to widen participation in higher education, in particular from underrepresented communities

• The ‘Urban Labs’ and the Quadruple Helix model – deepening our activities in the wider context of all our stakeholders: the public, private and third sectors, civil society and our local communities. Through our individual existing close links to industry and businesses, the U!REKA alliance has the opportunity to forge long-lasting international partnerships focused on innovation and offer new opportunities to our students, during and after their studies.

• Creating and replicating the ‘feel’ of a U!REKA European University at each of our institutions, by developing dedicated space that fosters collaborative projects and enables virtual mobility for our students. We see the identity of our U!REKA European University as one that is shared across our six cities through our common purpose but which also reflects our individual locations.

This release was first published 5 March 2019 by the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences