The Annual Conference and General Assembly of the Coimbra Group took place in Cologne, Germany on 31 May - 2 June 2023. During the event, the General Assembly elected Vice Rector Piia Björn as one of the members of the Coimbra Group’s Executive Board.
The Annual Conference, which was hosted by the University of Cologne, was attended by nearly 250 representatives of the 40 Coimbra Group member universities. This year, the theme of the Conference was “Africa Meets Europe – Academic Cooperation for a Sustainable Global Future”.
The event was kicked off by a meeting between the Executive Board, Coimbra Group representatives, Working Groups Chairs and Vice Chairs. The opening day also featured joint meeting between the Working Groups.
During the second day, the Conference focused on Europe-Africa cooperation, with keynote addresses by Professor Dr. Hirut Woldemariam (Addis Ababa University) and Domenico Rosa (European Commission, DG International Partnerships). The day also featured panel discussions focusing on the theme from different angles. Juha Kaskinen, Director of the Finland Futures Research Centre at the University of Turku, was one of the panellists in the discussion on Empowering Young Talents. His take on Green Energy Transition and Futures Orientated Education focused especially on current projects in Lesotho.
The second day featured also the Coimbra Group 3MT Competition Final, an open session on the European Universities Alliances, and the first in-person meeting between Erasmus Student Network local sections and the Coimbra Group contact points.
On the final day, the General Assembly gathered to follow the publication of the Coimbra Group’s Annual Report as well and the results of statutory votes which had taken place earlier. During the General Assembly, Vice Rector Piia Björn from the University of Turku was announced as one of the three newly-elected members of the Group’s Executive Board. The Executive Board fulfills a central role in the Coimbra Group as it is responsible for implementing all decisions taken by the General Assembly and for all decisions affecting the running of the Coimbra Group between General Assemblies.
The final day also included invitation to the 2024 Annual Conference which is organised in Turku by the University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University on the theme of "Research and Education - Most Impactful Together".
”It is great to be able to influence European science and education policy directly through this network as well. In addition, the University of Turku has an excellent opportunity to organise a carefully planned and interesting Annual Conference in the summer of 2024 together with Åbo Akademi University,” says Vice Rector Björn.
During the Annual Conference, Coimbra Group also announced it has joined other leading R&I actors in urging the African Union and European Union to take a novel funding approach to science cooperation by signing the joint Call for Action.
The Coimbra Group is an association of long-established European multidisciplinary universities of high international standard. The Group is committed to creating special academic and cultural ties in order to promote, for the benefit of its members, internationalisation, academic collaboration, excellence in learning and research, and service to society. In addition, the purpose of the Group is to influence European educational policy and to develop best practice through mutual exchange of experience. The University of Turku has been a Coimbra Group member since 1995.
