EUR joins alliance with universities from ‘post-industrial cities’

In the Polak building on Wednesday, eight European universities signed a covenant of UNIC, which stands for European Universities of post-Industrial Cities. This is a new European alliance of universities from cities facing similar social, economic and cultural themes.

The declaration was signed by the universities of Bilbao, Bochum, Cork, Istanbul, Liege, Oulu, Rotterdam and Zagreb. These cities are characterised by ‘socio-economic and socio-cultural super-diversity’.

The alliance has three goals. Firstly, it must be possible for students, scientists and support staff to ‘seamlessly’ move between the eight UNIC universities. In addition, the alliance challenges the participants to become ‘super diverse’ and welcome people from any background. The participants also wish to develop ‘city labs’: meeting places for sharing knowledge in and with cities.

More inclusive

According to rector magnificus Rutger Engels, these goals are a good fit with Erasmus University. “EUR has a super diverse student population, with a relatively high percentage of students from a non-traditional background. The other UNIC universities share these characteristics and the dedication to make our study programmes and intermobility more inclusive. Our aim is to give our students a real European learning experience and train the future leaders who will shape the European cities of tomorrow. UNIC does this by developing new approaches and models for education, tools and plans.”