NEOLAiA, our Alliance of European Universities transforming Regions for an Inclusive Europe, has been selected as one of the new funded alliances in the European Universities 2023 call. With over 30 consortia participating and only 7 funded, this achievement is a clear evidence of the hard work of the 9 partner universities, led in this project proposal for 2023 by the University of Jaén. NEOLAiA is the result of the partner universities’ sustained commitment to a long-term institutional collaboration strategy that will shape the future of the alliance for the next 10 years. The success in the European Universities Initiative call is another initiative by NEOLAiA aimed at strengthening its cooperation strategy and collaboration structures. It will enable the implementation of the project work plan’s actions.
NEOLAiA is composed of nine young European universities: the University of Ostrava (Czech Republic), Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava (Romania), the University of Bielefeld (Germany), Siauliai State University of Applied Sciences (Lithuania), the University of Orebro (Sweden), the University of Salerno (Italy), the University of Tours (France), the University of Nicosia (Cyprus), and the University of Jaén (Spain), which coordinates the group. These universities are of medium or small size, committed to their social and economic environment, and have a prominent position in rankings, particularly those analyzing the positioning of young universities, such as “THE Young Universities.”
NEOLAiA’s goal is to have a lasting impact on the partner universities’ strategy and structure. During the initial four-year period funded by the European Universities call, NEOLAiA will expand upon the cooperation achieved thus far among the partner universities by establishing sustainable collaboration and governance structures and incorporating new coordination internal mechanisms related with new legal forms available at the European level. The consortium will also broaden its activities to include innovative teaching, cross-university research, entrepreneurship, societal diversity and inclusion within a digital environment. Additionally, NEOLAiA will enable partner universities to drive participative regional citizenship, mobilizing Europeans where participation is most needed, particularly in non-metropolitan regions far from Europe’s main decision-making centers.
NEOLAiA’s motto is “Transforming Regions for an Inclusive Europe”. The consortium is structured around 10 work packages that define the alliance’s management areas, including mobility, teaching and learning, regional research impact, entrepreneurship, diversity and inclusion, interculturalism and plurilingualism, digital transformation, and sustainability/dissemination of project actions. The objective is to generate a resource structure that facilitates synergies in these aspects and improves the consortium’s position and effectiveness in the medium and long term.
Prof. Francesco Donsì is part of the Steering Committee, while Prof. Scarano Vittorio and Bice Della Piana are part of the Executive Committee, with responsibilities for technical-scientific guidance and organizational coordination of the individual Work Packages within the initiative.
All the delegates from the University of Salerno who collaborate with the NEOLAiA project.