Turku Invites Partners to EC2U Forum in May

14.04.2021

The Forum organised by the European Campus of City-Universities, EC2U Alliance, consisting of seven European universities will take place virtually during 17–21 May. The EC2U Forum hosted by the University of Turku focuses on topics including social sustainability, collaboration of universities and cities, and making students even more committed to their studies.

– EC2U promotes interesting and strong collaboration when it comes to European education and city-campus co-operation. It is an honour for the University of Turku to get to host this week. The programme and its realisation are a joint effort, and the atmosphere will be long remembered as something that increased the sense of togetherness even during this exceptional spring. I warmly welcome all the students and members of staff from the EC2U partner universities as well as representatives of all the cities and stakeholders, says Vice Rector Piia Björn from the University of Turku.

EC2U is an Alliance of seven European universities whose aim is to create a pan-European campus with a new model of quality education. The Alliance led by the the University of Poitiers in France includes the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iaşi in Romania, the University of Coimbra in Portugal, the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena in Germany, the University of Pavia in Italy, the University of Salamanca in Spain, and the University of Turku in Finland.

– The Alliance organises the EC2U Forum based on current themes every six months, and everyone interested in the topic is welcome to attend. The aim of the Forum is to raise awareness of the EC2U Alliance on all the campuses, share good practices, and inspire interesting dialogue between different actors. The Forum in Turku is organised virtually due to the coronavirus situation and is free of charge. Both the programme of the Forum and the registration link will be available in the beginning of May at utu.fi/ec2u, says the local Project Manager of the EC2U project Liisa Järvinen from the University of Turku.

The Forum starts on Wednesday, and during the Monday and Tuesday before it, meetings of the different committees and working groups managing EC2U will be held.

In April, EC2U conducts an extensive survey on the public’s views on European values. The Value4YourValue survey reviews the set of values experienced and pursued by Europeans as well as the obstacles to its realisation. The results of the survey will be published at the Forum.

The aim of the Alliance promoting mobility is that the co-operation produces synergy benefits for education, research and innovation. Three international and multidisciplinary Master’s degree programmes are currently being formed. One focuses on sustainable development, another on health and well-being, and third on European languages and cultures. In addition, three virtual institutes based on the same themes will be established which will focus particularly on the education and research collaboration of doctoral candidates.

– The collaboration offered by the EC2U Alliance is meant for all the students and staff at the University of Turku. Do not hesitate to contact EC2U@utu.fi if you want to know more about your possibilities to participate, says Järvinen.

The EC2U Alliance wishes to share good practices between partners while utilising the already existing ones, and to develop them further if possible. One example is developing new learning environments in collaboration and implementing the My Mobile Tutor application developed at the University of Turku in all the universities of the Alliance. The application helps those relocating for studies or work to find their place in the new community and city.

>> The University of Turku as part of the European Campus of Cuty-Universities EC2U
>> The European Campus of City-Universities

 

 

Created 14.04.2021 | Updated 15.04.2021