An alliance which offers us European collaboration on a scale we could not achieve alone and at a time when it is needed more than ever. With full association to Horizon Europe not yet confirmed and the UK’s association to Erasmus+ ending, how we engage with universities across Europe has changed. Europe will, however, always be a region of interest for the University of Edinburgh. Together with European collaborators and through sustainable exchange opportunities, we produce world-leading research, enriching our classrooms and learning experience to create multilingual, culturally sensitive and employable graduates. The relevance of Europe to our students and staff has not changed, although it has made us work differently to ensure that European collaboration and exchange can continue. Una Europa The Una Europa Alliance was formed in response to the European Commission’s European Universities Initiative launched in 2019. In line with the priorities of the European Education Area 2025, the initiative recognised the need for Europe’s future graduates to ‘be able to cooperate within different cultures, languages, and across borders, sectors and academic disciplines.’ Given the University’s position as a proud international university with ambitions to ‘build innovative global partnerships for research, teaching and impact,’ membership was seen as vital, particularly given the risks with post-Brexit UK/HE research collaboration, European exchange, and recruitment. Only nine UK universities are members of a European University Alliance, granting Edinburgh access to a unique and remarkable set of opportunities. As a separate legal entity (Una Europa vzw), a Brussels-based team supports and coordinates the work of all its partner universities. Find out more European Commission’s European Universities Initiative Facts and figures Una Europa offers unique opportunities to our students and staff to study, collaborate and research with some of the most impressive universities in Europe. The Alliance includes four of the University’s strategic European partners, four LERU members, four Coimbra Group, and three U21 members. Image This article was published on 2024-06-24
