UPWr joins the European University Association

The European University Association (EUA) represents more than 800 universities and national rectors’ conferences in 48 European countries. The amount of members makes the EUA play a crucial role in the Bologna Process and in influencing EU policies on higher education, research and innovation.

The association was established 20 years ago, when members of the Association of European Universities (CRE) and the Confederation of Rectors of the European Union decided at a conference in Salamanca to join forces and create a single representative body speaking for universities and their national associations on a European forum.

Every year new universities join the ranks of the association. At the end of April, the EUA Council approved the applications of four more candidates - the University North in Croatia, COMUE Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté in France, IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca in Italy and the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences in Poland.

The EUA website states that the association provides its members with the opportunity to share their best practices by participating in projects, events or webinars that have changed their formula during the pandemic. The work of the EUA is supervised by directing committees. Their areas of activity reflect not only the areas of the university’s work, but also the challenges that face the scientific world - so apart from educating and conducting PhD’s, there are research policies, innovations and science 2.0.

Prof. Charlie Jeffery from the University of York in Great Britain wrote in a letter to the EUA on the occasion of its 20th anniversary, stating that over the past two decades, the EUA has created a fantastic platform for university cooperation and policy engagement. The EUA has played an important role by acting as a strong advocate for higher education institutions across Europe. Prof. Marilen Gabriel Pirtea from the West University of Timisoara in Romania emphasized that the EUA membership supports the vision of unity and trust in education and research as a response to the complicated and complex global context. “Thus, we leave behind the idea of universities as ivory towers and pave the way towards universities without walls, for collaborative networks of students, academics, researchers and institutions, all strongly connected to the economic, cultural, social and political contexts in which they function''– he added.

Scientists involved in the work of the association emphasize that they share their values ​​and belief that cooperation between higher education institutions on the issues of education, science and innovation is the key to a better future for Europe and beyond, not only on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of its existence, but always. For the Rector of the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, prof. Jarosław Bosy, UPWr joining the EUA is primarily an implementation of his "nothing about us, without us" strategy.

- An observer can be at most a commentator, and we want to be an active member of the association. On the one hand, it gives opportunities for scientific exchange, finding partners for research or postdoctoral internships, and therefore what is the essence of science and universities. On the other hand, it gives the opportunity to participate in the decision-making process on a European level. The voice of the association is really important both in community debates on higher education, as well as in the decisions that concern it - says Prof. Jarosław Bosy, the rector of UPWr.

These decisions, important to both universities themselves and to the entire community, are also mentioned by prof. Francesco Ubertini from the University of Bologna in Italy, who in his letter sent to the EUA on the occasion of its 20th anniversary wrote: “Of primary importance, in my view, has been EUA’s participation in the Bologna Process. By actively supporting the key commitments of the Bologna Process, the EUA also works on other crucial issues that are central to all universities in Europe and beyond, such as mobility, governance, learning and teaching, and the social dimension of higher education institutions, which I regard as the most important issue of all”.

Currently, Poland is represented by 36 universities and the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland in the EUA.

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