On top of celebrating the launch of the EU-project, participants were able to get to know each other more personally after mostly online contact, which is crucial for international cooperation; and significant progress was made in the strategic planning. Members of all work packages dove right in and started working on their internal coordination and a roadmap for the upcoming months was established. The three-day event ended with a cultural visit of “El Madrid de los Austrias”, the old city centre built during the reign of the Habsburg Dynasty.
Inspired by the student exhibition "Language diversity at CUAS" during our International Day in October, where they showcased posters on "Language diversity at CUAS", our Spanish hosts decided to actively involve students in the Kick-Off event. Over two days, while participants worked on the Alliance’s structure and strategy, UFV Fine Arts students painted a reproduction of Salvador Dalí’s “Young Woman at a Window” across nine panels. At the closing ceremony, each partner received one piece to bring home, symbolising the diversity and unity of the institutions while reflecting a shared vision of collaboration and joint development.
This event marks the start of our common journey in a new era of collaboration in higher education in Europe. In the next four-years, which is the timeframe when the alliance is funded by the European Commission, the aim is to fully set up the interconnections between all partner institutions and to embed the Alliance within each organisation. Ambitious goals have been set in the development of joint study programmes and research activities, the creation of a joint digital platform for sharing resources and experiences and the introduction of new and innovative learning activities and forms of international mobility. Through joint operational units on education & pedagogy, research & entrepreneurship and service to society, the Alliance strives to jointly address future challenges such as the digital and green transitions and socio-economic issues, placing students, staff, researchers and society at the core of its activities.
As a reminder, the ACE²-EU Alliance is composed of the Santarém Polytechnic University (IPS, Portugal – lead partner), CUAS, University Constantin Brâncusi (UCB, Romania), University Goce Delcev (UGD, North Macedonia), Kaunas University of Applied Engineering Sciences (LIK, Lithuania), Universidad Francisco de Vitoria (UFV, Spain), Medical University of Gdansk (MUG, Poland), Latvian Academy of Culture (LAC, Latvia) and Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt (THI, Germany). It counts approximately 56 000 students and 3 200 staff, 56 associated partners and 29 research centres.
