The EMERGE European Universities Alliance is one of the 65 European University Alliances established across Europe in recent years. European University Alliances are a flagship initiative of the European Union in the field of higher education. Their aim is to strengthen the international competitiveness of European universities while promoting European values and a shared European identity.
The EMERGE Alliance brings together nine universities: Democritus University of Thrace (Greece), the University of Limerick (Ireland), Université Bretagne Sud and Rennes 2 University (France), the University of A Coruña (Spain), the University of Flensburg (Germany), Matej Bel University (Slovakia), Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences (Norway), and Neapolis University Pafos (Cyprus).
A common feature of the nine universities is that they are located in the geographical “margins” of Europe or of their respective countries, which means that they face a number of shared challenges.
The name EMERGE is an acronym for “Empowering the Margins of Europe through Regional and Global Engagement.” The Alliance represents a coordinated effort by the nine universities to transform their shared condition of geographical “marginality” into a source of strength for cooperation and institutional transformation in the areas of education, research, and their wider social and regional impact.
Their ultimate goal is to evolve into an integrated inter-university ecosystem: an innovative and competitive European University that draws its strength and identity from the distinctive characteristics of Europe’s peripheral regions, maintains close links with society, and promotes the values of inclusion, solidarity and sustainability, together with the principles of resilience, multilingualism and cultural diversity.
In Greece, partner schools also contribute to practical training activities connected with the EMERGE research fields of multilingualism and multiculturalism, including the subfields of linguistically and culturally responsive education and education for intercultural competence.
More information is available on the Alliance website: https://euemerge.eu/