University West becomes European University

University West in one of nine partners of STARS EU. It is an existing alliance of universities from all parts of Europe who share the same European values and who want to contribute to a sustainable future for Europe and the World. By sharing our knowledge and ideas, STARS EU empowers people and society to learn and grow.

The grant received by STARS EU will support the Alliance to expand and implement its long-term vision to create structural societal impact on a local, inter-regional and international scale. The goal of the Alliance is to accelerate regional transformation toward a more sustainable future.

- All the universities that are members of the STARS EU alliance are excited and willing to learn from each other to improve the quality of their education and research, and to help strengthen Europe together. Moreover, the funding will bring us further in our ambitions to make an impact in the world we are living in and tackle societal challenges together. It is a great day for the Alliance, but more importantly for our students, partners, and Europe as a whole”, says Dick Pouwels, President of Hanze University in the Netherlands, the coordinating university of the STARS EU Alliance. 

Transforming regions. Empowering people.

Since it was founded in 2019, the alliance has built successful collaboration between its partners that resulted in new cooperation structures, innovative tools, programmes and practices in which students, teachers and researchers can join. 

The alliance has brought together academic staff of different disciplines and universities within Thematic Interest Groups. But STARS EU is not a closed Alliance. Instead, external stakeholders have been invited to the activities of the STARS EU Regional Transition Accelerator where the goal is to help regions speed up the transition to a more digital and sustainable society.

The members of STARS EU are regionally connected universities committed to working with local and regional partners to contribute to real positive change. All members share the desire to build universities without walls to the outside world thereby creating greater societal impact for their education and research.

- The fact that we have had the application granted creates great opportunities for University West and our region. All higher education institutions within STARS EU have a consensus on how we can work to develop our regions sustainably based on their needs and conditions. At the same time, we are open and inclusive and ready to learn from each other and the outside world. Our work within STARS EU will have a major impact on everything we do in education, research and various forms of collaboration. Our position as a European university also makes us better equipped in our joint work for democracy, diversity and inclusion, says Jan Theliander, acting Vice-Chancellor at University West.

For more information, please contact:

Jan Theliander, acting Vice-Chancellor

073-397 50 86
jan.theliander@hv.se

What is a European University?

The European Commission approved seven new alliances under the 2023 Erasmus+ European Universities Call, which add to the ones previously funded in earlier calls. After this call, there are a total of fifty European Universities. 

STARS EU contributes to implement the European Universities Initiative: one of the activities through which the EU aims to create a European High Education Area. The EU encourages international alliances between different European universities, aiming to promote European values and identity as well as strengthen the quality and competitiveness of European higher education.

STARS EU partners:

Hanze University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands
Polytechnic Institute of Braganca, Portugal
Bremen University of Applied Sciences, Germany
University of La Laguna, Spain 
Silesian University in Opava, Czechia
Cracow University of Technology, Poland
University of Franche-Comté, France
Aleksandër Moisiu University, Albania