JDU representatives at II Conference of European Universities

On September 4-5, 2024, the representatives of the European University COLOURS Alliance of  Jan Dlugosz University in Czestochowa, prof. Małgorzata Kurek (Institute of Linguistics) and Bartłomiej Kowalik, MA (Department for International Cooperation), took part in the II Conference of European Universities in Krakow. The event was organised by the Foundation for the Development of the Education System, acting as the National Agency of the Erasmus+ Programme and the European Solidarity Corps. The speakers included prof. Andrzej Szeptycki, Undersecretary of State, Ministry of Science and Higher Education, and prof. Patrycja Matusz, PhD, DSc, Vice-Rector for Projects and International Relations, University of Wrocław, Plenipotentiary of the Minister of Science for European Affairs and the Presidency of the Republic of Poland in the Council of the European Union. The opening lecture entitled "Universities without borders: the transformative power of European University Alliances as a new form of internationalisation" was given by an outstanding specialist in the field of internationalisation – prof. Dorothy Kelly from the University of Granada.

During eight discussion sessions, topics related to the activities of European Universities alliances were discussed, including reflections on their previous activities, cooperation between the academic community and university administration staff (Professional Staff), involvement of students, doctoral students and staff in the activities of alliances, the power of public relations in building the European Universities brand, international research activities within the network. In total, 32 Polish universities are part of 30 alliances (two Polish universities are in two alliances). On the first day of the event, new alliances were presented, which joined the 50 previously existing European Universities as part of the last edition of the 2024 competition. As part of this year's competition, 9 Polish universities have joined the new European Universities alliances.

Our presence was also marked at the Conference by dr. Małgorzata Kurek who took part in the panel entitled "New EU trends in building the Future-ready learning University strategy", alongside representatives of the Lodz University of Technology, the Cracow University of Technology, the University of Gdańsk, the University of Silesia in Katowice and the Wrocław University of Technology. The event was an ideal space for discussion and networking of representatives of European Universities alliances.

Detailed information on the Conference website, more about  the European University COLOURS Alliance.