Events
19 MARCH 2024
"European alliances and their legal status - a proposal"
Event to present the outputs of the project to the academic and administrative communities, to reinforce the interest in building European Alliances.
Where: University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette (Luxembourg)
When: 19 March 2024, 10h00 to 13h00
AGENDA
A retrospective of the Leg-UniGR closing event
On Tuesday, 19 March 2024, the University of Luxembourg hosted the closing conference of the Erasmus+ co-funded project “Leg-UniGR: Blueprint for a legal entity for cross-border university alliances” on Belval Campus. Representatives of the seven UniGR partner universities and political stakeholders from the Greater Region met to discuss a new legal framework for the cross-border alliance UniGR.
Coordinated by the University of Luxembourg in close cooperation with UniGR a.s.b.l. and the other six partner universities, the project is one of the four Erasmus+ pilot projects in which a legal status for European university alliances was tested. In this context, Leg-UniGR analysed the feasibility of a new legal status for the cross-border university network. After 12 months, the project is coming to an end and the results have been officially presented to the Greater Region higher education community.
University of Luxembourg’s rector Jens KREISEL opened the event underlining the importance of partnership and collaboration as the most efficient response to the challenges of our societies.
Tine DELVA, Deputy Head of Unit for Higher Education in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport, and Culture, then presented the status of the other nine ongoing pilot projects and gave an update on the political context.
Leg-UniGR project coordinator Eric TSCHIRHART then summarised the results of the project and gave an outlook on the last steps.
During two round tables, executive representatives of the UniGR partner universities (Jens KREISEL – University of Luxembourg, Hélène BOULANGER – Université de Lorraine, Eva-Martha ECKKRAMMER – Trier University, Pierre DUYSINX – Université de Liège, Claudia POLZIN-HAUMANN – Saarland University) and political stakeholders from the Greater Region’s higher education sector (Romain MARTIN – Ministry of Higher Education and Research in Luxembourg, Isabelle HALLEUX – Expert to the Cabinet of the Minister for Higher Education and Scientific Research of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, Sébastien DESCOTES-GENON – Ministry of Higher Education and Research of the Région Académique Grand Est) reflected on the topic and discussed the development of the University of the Greater Region alliance and its potential through the future change in legal status. The following points were discussed in detail:
◊ UniGR as a model of cross-border university
◊ The essential foundations for a long-term partnership between universities
◊ The added value of a European legal status
◊ The support and challenges from a national point of view
◊ The development of research cooperation within the Greater Region
◊ The implementation of shared Doctoral schools in critical domains such as Artificial Intelligence, High Performance computing but also Social and Human Sciences, to respond to the challenges of our societies.
Université de Lorraine’s president and UniGR’ s current president Hélène BOULANGER concluded the event by looking back on the alliances 15 years of successful cooperation and giving an outlook on strengthening the partnership through the transition to a European-regulated legal framework.
All future developments relating to the legal status of UniGR can be followed here: https://legunigr.uni.lu/ & https://www.uni-gr.eu
16 OCTOBER 2023
"UniGR foundations and progress towards a new legal entity"
Hybrid event to present the whole evolution of UniGR as a cross-border & transnational alliance of universities.
Where: Maison de la Grande Région, Esch-sur-Alzette (Luxembourg) & ONLINE
When: 16 October 2023, 09h30 to 15h00
AGENDA
A retrospective of the first Leg-UniGR event
The University of Luxembourg and University of the Greater Region (UniGR) hosted the first conference of the Erasmus+ project “Leg-UniGR: Blueprint for a legal entity for cross-border university alliances” on 16 October 2023 in the Maison de la Grande Région (Esch-sur-Alzette). With numerous contributions, keynote speeches and a panel discussion, the conference discussed the progress of the project so far and provided an outlook for the future.
Rector Jens Kreisel opened the conference, with vice-rector Marie-Hélène Jobin, insisting on the importance of cross-border cooperation within the Greater Region, for higher education and research.
The speakers were:
Eric TSCHIRHART – Leg-UniGR Project Coordinator, University of Luxembourg
Janosch NIEDEN – Director of Eucor – The European Campus
Matteo LORITO – EGTC Contact Point at the Ministry of Energy and Spatial Planning
Florence JACQUEY – Director of GECT Secrétariat du Sommet de la Grande Région
Daniel CODELLO – Cross-border and European policy coordinator, Ville d’Esch-sur-Alzette
All contributed to the state of the art of the project, addressing subjects such as:
◊ The choice of legal entity for cross-border university alliances.
◊ Example of successful creation such as EUCOR.
◊ Considering societal positive outputs of cross-border higher education.
◊ Discussing fundraising and applications to European funding by European Universities and cross-border alliances through a dedicated legal entity.
Proposals have been put forward to significantly optimise the establishment of legal entities such as European Groupings of Territorial Cooperation (EGTCs), an archetypal European legal instrument for cross-border targeted cooperation.
A total of 52 persons took part in the discussions of this hybrid event, which reflects the relevance of the topic.
For those who missed the event or wish to revisit the discussions, we encourage you to stay tuned for post-event materials and updates which will be published shortly on the project’s website. The dialogue on the legal status of cross-border and transnational alliances continues, and your input is highly valued.
