The University of Luxembourg hosted the closing event of the Erasmus+ project "Leg-UniGR: Blueprint for a legal entity for cross-border university alliances". After 12 months, the project, which aims to explore legal entity status formulas for cross-border university alliances, is drawing to a close, and the project results were presented to the academic and administrative community on Tuesday, 19 March 2024.
T
he Leg-UNIGR project, funded by the Erasmus+ programme and carried out as part of the UNIGR network of seven universities in the Grande Région, was designed to explore the feasibility of creating legal status for cross-border university alliances. The pilot project resulted in the drafting of articles of association to create a legal entity for the UniGR network. These new statutes will make it possible to encourage new advances in cooperation in education, research, innovation and services to society between the seven universities of the Greater Region.
The project's closing event brought together representatives of UniGR's partner universities and political players from the region, as well as many other European university players interested in the results. They debated the need for and advantages of providing European university alliances with such a legal status, and then discussed the draft statutes of the UniGR EGTC, the fruit of the work of the Leg-UNGR project, adapted to this cross-border cooperation. Nevertheless, while Leg-UNIGR proves that the EGTC is an interesting legal form for alliances, the participants pointed out that many challenges remain to be resolved. Indeed, most of the universities that are members of European alliances still hope to see the legal frameworks evolve in the future.
In his opening speech, Jean Kreisel, Rector of the University of Luxembourg and Vice-President of UniGR, emphasised: "Partnership and collaboration are the only answers to global problems. We are research universities, collaborating in our 3 missions without opposing them, that's what binds us."
The Leg-UniGR project was coordinated by the University of Luxembourg in partnership with other institutions for a year, exploring the possibilities and drafting the statutes of the entity. Eric Tschirhart from UniLU highlights the work accomplished: "In 12 months, the possibilities have been explored, statutes have been written and are ready to be signed."
The political representatives emphasised the importance of this project in the European educational landscape, while acknowledging the financial challenges and obstacles associated with accrediting joint programmes. For Pierre Duysinx, Vice-Rector in charge of international affairs at ULiège: "The University of the Grande Région is one of the most active institutional networks of the University of Liège. The new legal framework is another small step towards more effective collaboration in education (including lifelong learning) and research."
In conclusion, Hélène Boulanger, President of UniGR, said: "Collectively, we are proud that this project was born in the crucible of UniGR. UniIGR is not a dream but a reality, which has a daily dimension, which is that of our students and colleagues."
ULiège and its partners FOREM and IDELUX are inaugurating a sustainable housing technology platform on the Arlon campus to meet the needs of the wood and construction sectors.
Des représentant·es politiques sont venus ce 19 avril à la rencontre de la communauté ULiège pour débattre de thèmes liés à la vie universitaire, en vue des élections.
Communiqué du Conseil des rectrices et recteurs du 18 avril 2024 à propos du décret « Paysage » amendé
