Studying together - today in Extremadura, tomorrow in Angers. Researching together - today in Parma, tomorrow in Wroclaw. Working together - today in Oradea, tomorrow in Gävle. Pursuing European values and goals together - today in a university alliance, tomorrow in a "European University". This could be the future of our university.

After two and a half years of preparation, the official kick-off of the EU GREEN - European Universities Alliance for Sustainability: Responsible Growth, Inclusive Education and Environment took place in January 2023. In the alliance, the University of Magdeburg is working with eight other European universities to establish a Europe-wide education and research network in the field of sustainable development. "All nine universities are regional universities with an international focus that jointly pursue European values and goals for greater sustainability," explains Angela Kipf from EU GREEN project and quality management. "Sustainable development and measures to combat social, economic and economic problems are two key objectives to which the partners in the EU GREEN university alliance have committed themselves." University alliances, of which there are already 51, are EU-funded transnational and interdisciplinary projects that promote European values and identity and aim to advance the quality and competitiveness of European higher education.

Together, the universities from

• Extremadura in Spain,
• Parma in Italy,
• Angers in France,
• Évora in Portugal,
• Gävle in Sweden and
• Wroclaw in Poland,
• the Atlantic Technical University in Ireland and
• Oradea in Romania and
• the University of Magdeburg

develop a high-performance education system. "Because education is the key to sustainable development", summarizes Dr. Uwe Genetzke, Head of the International Office at the University of Magdeburg, "and education does not end with a Master's or Doctoral degree in your pocket, but is a lifelong process, a lifelong learning. This is the focus of the EU GREEN university alliance."

In future, the alliance partners will collaborate intensively in research and teaching on the topic of sustainable development and create structures for a joint European campus. The alliance will use the next four years of the start-up phase to develop a strategy and consolidate the nine working groups:

1. Management and coordination of the alliance
2. Sustainability-centered teaching/learning model
3. Research-based learning in clusters of excellence
4. Innovation and entrepreneurship for sustainability
5. Sustainability in business and society
6. Promoting mobility and international cooperation for sustainability
7. Access, diversity and inclusion
8. Designing a sustainable campus
9. Communication, networking and visibility

The University of Magdeburg has taken over the leadership of the "Communication, Networking and External Impact" working group. The aim of the work at these different levels is to create a university campus with a European dimension - a "European University". "This title is a seal of quality," emphasizes Dr. Genetzke, who accompanied and pushed for the university's entry into the university alliance from the very beginning. "It gives us access to resources that would not be available to us if we were not a member of the Alliance."

The "European Universities" initiative aims to bring together a new generation of creative Europeans who are able to work together in different languages and across national and disciplinary boundaries to tackle the major societal challenges and skills shortages facing Europe. Through close cooperation and coordination, much is to change in the coming years, transnational study programs are to be established, joint research projects realized and transparent governance processes created in the administration. This will enable students, researchers and staff from the participating universities to move between the European institutions without any hurdles and jointly use the experience and, above all, the strengths and potential of all and develop intercultural skills. EU GREEN is building a comprehensive digital infrastructure for this purpose. This networks the resources of all partner universities and thus enables, for example, digital attendance of courses, expands further training opportunities for employees and offers the opportunity to exchange and connect research data.

The EU GREEN university alliance will make it easier for students and staff to transfer within universities. (Foto: Jana Dünnhaupt / Uni Magdeburg)

"This university network is an enormous challenge for the university community, but at the same time a huge opportunity for the university, the city and the entire region," emphasizes Rector Prof. Dr.-Ing. "A new campus will be created on which the European idea will be lived. EU GREEN is only at first glance the design of a common infrastructure, university procedures and processes. If we succeed in actively using these new structures, then incredible opportunities will open up for the university and all its members. Language courses, the exchange of best practice in administrative processes and the chance to acquire joint applications at European level with new partners are just a few examples. In line with our motto 'Rethinking the world together', we will therefore join forces in the coming months and years and actively participate in the development of new university models in Europe. We want to double the proportion of our international funding from the EU in the coming years and EU GREEN is a very important building block in this process."

What changes will this bring for employees? "We all have to learn to think in much larger dimensions, both when making decisions and when implementing resolutions. So we always have to think about the Alliance as well," affirms Dr. Genetzke. "This requires thinking together in a new way." The European Union has set no less than 20 years for the path to the "European University" to learn and implement this. After all, everyone should be involved and be able to contribute.

Like the other 420 universities in the university alliances, the 9 EU GREEN universities face the challenge of getting as many people as possible excited about the "cause" and motivating as many people as possible to get involved. However, EU GREEN not only requires enormous commitment, but also opens up enormous opportunities to be fit for the future, says Dr. Genetzke, putting it simply: "The more we get involved and contribute, the more we can have a say in where the journey takes us in the coming years. I can only urge every member of staff, but also every student: Get involved, it's worth it!"

Background information EU GREEN

EU GREEN is one of 51 existing university alliances involving around 430 higher education institutions from 35 countries across Europe. In 2023, the EU selected 23 existing European University Alliances from 65 applications for further funding, and 7 new alliances with up to ten new universities each were added. In the current selection, German universities are the frontrunners across Europe with 29 participations. University alliances such as EU GREEN are partnerships that are intended to be a model for "universities of the future". Those institutions that participate in partnerships will in future have priority access to funding for strategic projects.