European Commission highlights best practices of the European Alliance integrated by the University of Coimbra

The European Commission (EC) has highlighted several initiatives promoted by EC2U – the European Campus of City-Universities, an alliance of European universities integrating the University of Coimbra (UC), as best practice activities in its recently published Report on the outcomes and transformational potential of the European Universities initiative.

In the document, which analyses the implementation of the pilot phase of alliances funded by the European Commission through the European Universities Initiative, the activities developed by EC2U are mentioned several times as positive examples in various areas, including student engagement, collaboration with strategic partners and the development of Masters programmes.

The following initiatives are recognised as key good practices: the EC2U Ambassadors Programme, which involves students from all partner universities in disseminating activities across campuses, fostering mobility and collaboration; the My Mobile Tutor app, a multilingual mobile application providing relevant information about each partner university and city; and the joint Master's degrees in ‘Sustainable Cities and Communities’ (coordinated by the UC), ‘Lifelong Well-being and Healthy Ageing’, and ‘European Languages, Cultures and Societies in Contact’.

Other activities organised by EC2U were also cited by the EC as positive examples. The Career Plan Certificate, which helps EC2U students and young researchers build knowledge and collaborate at the European level, is highlighted as an outstanding initiative. The three EC2U Virtual Institutes – Quality Health, Quality Education, and Sustainable Cities and Communities – are also mentioned. These institutes bring together interdisciplinary teams of students, researchers, academics, and other professionals in a variety of remote activities, including training, knowledge exchange, and joint projects, with a focus on the Sustainable Development Goals.

The interaction of EC2U universities with strategic partners is also highlighted in the report, including the creation of the EC2U General Assembly, which brings together several partner organisations in each city (in Coimbra, for example, the City Hall, the Directorate General of the Academic Association of Coimbra, the Erasmus Student Network Coimbra, the Local Health Unit of Coimbra, the Pedro Nunes Institute, the Regional Coordination and Development Commission - Centre and the Bluepharma Group).

EC2U is currently in its consolidation phase, having received in 2023 €14.4 million from the European Commission's 2023 in the scope of the European Universities initiative. The alliance is made up of eight universities: The University of Poitiers (France), the University of Coimbra (Portugal), the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena (Germany), the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași (Romania), the University of Salamanca (Spain), the University of Pavia (Italy), the University of Turku (Finland) and the Johannes Kepler University of Linz (Austria), which joined in 2023.

This multicultural and multilingual European university alliance, coordinated by the University of Poitiers, aims to develop an open and innovative space allowing seamless mobility between the eight universities and their associated cities. The Alliance is based on a unique cooperation between academic communities, municipalities, regional authorities, socioeconomic actors and citizens.

Since 2020, when it received funding for the pilot phase, EC2U has been engaging the academic communities of the partner universities, as well as the inhabitants of the cities in which they are located, through a wide range of activities. The goal is not only to promote mobility, but also to encourage the development of new educational models through the creation of joint master's programmes and virtual institutes.

The University of Lviv (Ukraine) became part of EC2U as an associate partner in 2022. This year, the University of Umeå (Sweden) will join the Alliance.