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UCC Signs Statement for Ambitious New Phase of UNIC European University Alliance

3 Feb 2023

UCC joined nine European partners to kickstart the second phase of the European University of Cities in Post-Industrial Transition (UNIC), signing a mission statement in Zagreb, Croatia.

UCC Deputy President and Registrar Prof. Stephen Byrne joined rectors across UNIC universities in Zagreb last Friday, January 27^th 2023, to sign the statement and to mark a bold and ambitious new phase for UNIC, a European University Alliance. The new UNIC Centre for City Futures was also announced at the signing.

European University Alliances are at the forefront of European and international policy changes in higher education “revolutionising the quality and competitiveness of European higher education”, according to the European Commission.

The vision for the second phase of UNIC offers a detailed roadmap for the alliance – expanded to ten universities from the founding eight - to deepen its commitments and values, continuing a journey started in 2020 after securing a grant via the European Commission’s Erasmus+ European Universities Call.

The new phase of UNIC offers a rich diversity of events and new offerings for students, researchers, and citizens across Europe. This includes enhanced mobility through hybrid campuses and course offerings, micro-credentials, seminars and roundtables. It also includes intensified focus on the alliance’s flagship “CityLabs”, which create opportunities for universities and their cities to work together on societal challenges and impact.

Building on the foundations established in the last three years, the renewed Mission Statement highlights UNIC’s objectives for the coming years: unlocking models of inter-institutional learning, teaching, and research that are linked to the unique characters of post-industrial urban settings.

“We are ten universities from ten very different parts of Europe; but connected by our histories, our present and our future,” said Prof. Dr. Ed Brinksma, President of Erasmus University Rotterdam. “UNIC aims to set a positive model for European cities on how to bring together learning, engaged research and urban innovation to create societal impact and improvement, and to help with the major transitions that will define Europe’s future.”

Speaking at the signing in Zagreb, UCC’s Prof. Stephen Byrne said, "I am delighted to be in Zagreb for the signing of the new mission statement for the UNIC European University Alliance. This alliance, with its dynamic joint activities, has been pivotal in enhancing UCC's international links and community impact. I am looking forward to the continued shared success of the alliance in the next phase to 2027."

UNIC’s member universities include:

Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey

Malmö University, Malmö, Sweden

Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany

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University of Deusto, Bilbao, Spain

University of Liège, Liège, Belgium

University of Lodz, Łódź, Poland

University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia