AcrossEu

AcrossEu

AcrossEU integrates nine mid-sized comprehensive universities, each a cornerstone within its regional setting, nurturing not just local talent but specifically shaping students as future innovators and leaders:

United by the conviction that complex challenges require a robust, collaborative approach, we aim to foresee tomorrow’s challenges from a holistic, multifaceted perspective.

Universities have evolved over time in symbiosis with their cities and territories, from their mediaeval roots as centres for the preservation and transmission of knowledge in cities such as Valladolid, Siena or Fribourg to their contemporary role driving progress through teaching, research, technological transfer and societal outreach. In some cases, their creation has been directly linked to the consolidation of a territorial or national identity such as in Caen for Normandy, Skopje for North Macedonia and, more recently, Rovaniemi for Finnish Lapland.
In non-metropolitan areas where the campuses of AcrossEU are located, universities serve as both markers of identity and catalysts for progress. Their presence has favoured the transformation of our towns into cities. This is clearly demonstrated in instances like Pardubice, where the university was created at the demand of the local industry in 1950, or Bayreuth, where the foundation of the university in 1975 expressly to counter economic stagnation and out-migration in northeastern Bavaria.
As crucial local actors, we are proud of our role in educating the next generation, upskilling our communities, producing cutting-edge research and enabling the smart specialisation strategies of our regions.
As a collective, AcrossEU embodies the archetype of European universities: strategically positioned in medium-sized cities and facing similar regional issues. Our institutions boast complementary strengths in both education and research. Together, we amplify our potential and impact on global and local levels.

Overcoming global and regional challenges as responsible universities

As the world races forward, AcrossEU is deeply aware of the profound societal and environmental challenges ahead of us. The accelerating pace of technological innovation, epitomised by the advancements in artificial intelligence, intersects with pressing environ-mental issues like climate change. The situation becomes even more intricate due to the resurgence of geopolitical tensions in Europe and its surroundings, massive human displacements, and ongoing public health crises. At local level, demographic changes, migration dynamics, implantation of new industries and needs for renewal of professional skills create challenges and opportunities for the evolution of universities.
This perspective is particularly relevant to AcrossEU, whose universities share a joint commitment as responsible universities. This entails accountability to students, academic staff, and citizens for institutional decisions that prioritise educational offers and skills development responsive to the region’s socio-economic fabric.
To cultivate a capacity to anticipate and react to emerging needs of the European regions we represent, we acknowledge that our traditional approaches must be reassessed to embrace global complexity and foster collaborative innovation, as concluded from a series of collaborative workshops with our university communities. This implies that we need to:

  • Educate our students to become critical thinkers and agents of change in a rapidly evolving socio-economic environment, adapting our curricula and teaching methods.
  • Conduct relevant research to emerging complex challenges and ensure that our discoveries and breakthroughs create significant and lasting positive change, moving beyond classic disciplinary boundaries and academic structures.
  • Engage with regional stakeholders who influence current societal challenges, becoming a dialogue and action partner to them and to create innovative solutions.
  • Keep the pace and remain connected to global transitions, our universities, located in the peripheries of Europe, need to make an additional effort to surmount geographical, socio-economic and cultural barriers of talent attraction and inclusive internationalization.