EUNICE becomes international association

Representatives of the universities in the EUNICE alliance, the European University for Tailored Education, officially sealed their cooperation in mid-November before a notary at the University of Mons (Belgium).

The alliance will henceforth operate as an international non-profit association (AISBL: Association Internationale Sans But Lucratif). Prof. Philippe Dubois, Rector of the University of Mons, will be the first President of AISBL and Prof. Dr. Abdelhakim Artiba, President of Université Polytechnique Hauts-de-France, its Vice-President.

This milestone on the road to long-term, transnational collaboration represents a major step forward for the Alliance. EUNICE is no longer "just" a European project, but has become an international organization. The legal identity allows the EUNICE partner universities to share their strengths and to pool activities, resources and information. Strategic decisions, with the new legal identity, will henceforth be taken collectively. This is essential in order to award joint European degrees at the alliance level, for example.

EUNICE staff also used this face-to-face meeting in Mons to discuss the future direction of the Alliance and to concretize the involvement of the three new partners - the University of Peloponnese (Greece), the Polytechnic Institute of Viseu (Portugal) and the University of Karlstad (Sweden).

EUNICE, the European University for Customized Education, born from the European Universities Initiative and funded by the European Commission, is building a solid network of interactions between educational institutions and other actors* to work on social and economic challenges. The Alliance is supported by ten universities: Poznań University of Technology (Poland), Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg (Germany), University of Cantabria (Spain), University of Mons (Belgium), University of Catania (Italy), Université Polytechnique Hauts-de-France (France), University of Vaasa (Finland), Polytechnic Institute Viseu (Portugal), University of Peloponnese (Greece) and University of Karlstad (Sweden).