European Margins Engaging for Regional and Global Empowerment

Putting the margins at the heart of Europe

At a glance

We are an alliance of nine diverse regional institutions of higher education located on the European periphery who have come together through a shared desire to tackle the particular challenges of engaging with Europe and creating the European Educational Area in these marginal spaces.

Coordinator

University of Limerick / Ollscoil
Luimnigh /Ireland

Members:

Universidade da Coruña /Spain

Université Rennes 2 /France

Université de Bretagne Sud /France

Inland Norway University of
Applied Sciences /Norway

Univerzita Mateja Bela v Banskej Bystrici /Slovakia

Europa-Universität Flensburg /Germany

Neapolis University Pafos /Cyprus

Democritus University of Thrace /Greece

Associated partner:

Limerick City and County Council /Irland

European Centre for Minority Issues /Germany

Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University /Georgia

Ungt Entreprenørskap Innlandet /Norway

Limerick Chamber of Commerce /Ireland

Nansen Academy – Norwegian Humanistic Academy /Norway

Uzhhorod National University /Ukraine

Culturati Factory /France

Junior Achievement /Greece

Centre Mutualiste de Rééducation et Réadaptation Fonctionnelles de KERPAPE /France

Asociacion Clúster TIC Galicia /Spain

University of Mostar /Bosnia and Herzegovina

Our vision

The EMERGE Alliance will digitally pool the educational, research and innovation resources and infrastructures of the nine partner universities from which students, teachers, researchers and adult learners across the Alliance can seamlessly benefit.

The ultimate goal is to create an inter-university campus where students, teachers, researchers and adult learners can access degree courses, professional development, research training, other research groups, micro-credentials and technical expertise from any university in the Alliance, magnifying the opportunities to study, research and advance their careers through physical and blended mobilities and virtual learning. We will also empower students at bachelor’s, master’s and PhD levels to customise their own curricula.

The pooling of resources and infrastructures will enable the development of new interdisciplinary and innovative learning and teaching formats, teams and activities and facilitate knowledge co-creation, including a challenge-based approach. Students will have greater opportunities to develop an entrepreneurial mindset and strengthen their civic engagement. To facilitate this, the EMERGE partners will build deepened connections with our local ecosystems, notably though the use of third spaces for co-creation (e.g. Fab Labs). Our teachers, researchers and university staff will benefit from a joint Continuous Professional Development (CPD) programme to empower them to drive the new innovative EMERGE campus.

Realising this goal will require going beyond simply sharing educational and research resources. EMERGE partners will gradually align management, institutional policies, practices and technical capabilities to create a common educational space. Setting-up a sustainable governance framework that is agile, transparent and efficient will support this goal with a step-by-step approach.

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The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and
respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities.
These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail.
– Common Provisions, Article 2

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Our core values

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EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION (EDI): Recognising the importance of ensuring access to higher education for all, while embracing and celebrating diversity.

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CREATIVITY AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP: Fostering the conditions for creativity and innovation to flourish, stimulating the creation and growth of start-ups, small and medium-sized companies and social enterprises.

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SUSTAINABILITY: Ensuring that higher education institutions contribute to UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly in terms of Quality Education (SDG 4), Gender Equality (SDG 5), Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (SDG 9), Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10), Climate Action (SDG 13) and Partnership for the Goals (SDG 17).

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COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: Partnering with the communities in which universities are located to ensure our teaching, research and service support inclusive economic and social development and knowledge co-production.

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EMERGE

[move out of or away from something and become visible]
[become apparent or prominent]

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Our mission

This project was created with the purpose of giving our students and staff the opportunity to experience all that Europe has to offer in terms of know-how, expertise, talent, perspective and energy. And through this to help them realize what they, their territory and their country can gain by opening up and cooperating at the continental level.

News

Combined, our nine institutions have over 125,000 students. While we each have varying cultures, languages and educational programs, our aim is to build a new long-term joint strategy with a bottom-up approach which will impact and support all of our areas of activities, from teaching and learning to research and innovation, whilst encouraging new forms of student and staff mobility. In short, we aim to create systemic changes in how we cooperate and operate to the benefit of our communities and local stakeholders.

Three-day workshop in Brussels centered on the EMERGE initiative

November 13, 2023 | Emerge Universities

From the 13th to the 15th of November, a comprehensive and insightful three-day workshop was hosted in Brussels centered on the EMERGE initiative. The workshop hosted representatives from all nine esteemed partner institutions, a distinguished gathering that included...

EMERGE scored highly on European Commission evaluation

July 12, 2023 | Emerge Universities

After the results of the European Commission evaluation regarding University Alliances, EMERGE scored highly, surpassing the set 70-point threshold, which reinforces the significance and impact of our Alliance in the realm of research and education. This outcome...

A Successful and Inspiring EMERGE Staff Week

April 28, 2023 | Emerge Universities

A successful and inspiring EMERGE Staff Week took place from the 24th of April until the 28th of April, bringing together representatives from all full partners of the Alliance. During the Staff Week, official representatives from each university discussed key matters...