Presentation
The European Universities Initiative is one of the EU’s main flagship actions. The aim is to work together to build the future of the European education area. The initiative brings together European universities in alliances to develop ambitious, borderless cooperation in the form of a European campus for research, teaching and innovation. This goes far beyond mobility, as the aim is to promote international interaction on a daily basis and in all areas of university life.
Université Bourgogne Europe is a member of the FORTHEM Alliance with eight other partner universities:
- Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in Germany,
- the University of Jyväskylä in Finland,
- the University of Latvia in Latvia,
- the University of Opole in Poland,
- the University of Palermo in Italy,
- the University of Valencia in Spain,
- the University of Agder in Norway,
- the University of Sibiu in Romania.
FORTHEM was one of the first 17 alliances to be selected and established in 2019, and renewed for a further four years in November 2022. Its main mission is to imagine new possible forms of cooperation in order to:
- work together to bring a “spirit of Europe” into every classroom,
- share and benefit from the most innovative working methods,
- build a common model for all future European universities.
- Democratize international openness for Alliance students throughout their university career.
- Develop an institutional framework for permanent, integrated cooperation between Alliance member institutions, and encourage staff mobility.
- Build together a “European campus,” enabling physical, virtual and hybrid forms of mobility and a growing number of joint study programs.
- Encourage multilingualism through the use of diverse linguistic resources.
- Work to confront societal challenges and promote the vision of an open society for tomorrow’s European citizens, who will have developed 21st century skills such as critical thinking, creativity, self-directed learning, intercultural communication skills…
- Bring innovation to the education system and strengthen the links between education, research and innovation.
- Involve socio-economic partners as well as the citizens of our regions in the actions of the Alliance because, as its name suggests, FORTHEM is made for them: for our students, for our staff, for our partners and for our local communities.
- Contribute to the social, economic and educational development of our regions and beyond.
In order to achieve the objectives of the European Universities Initiative, the FORTHEM Alliance is structured around 5 major axes.
The FORTHEM European Campus must become a tangible reality for all staff and students, whatever their profile, to make participation in FORTHEM online, physical or hybrid activities a natural part of their everyday university experience.
This involves implementing the Digital Academy as an easy-to-use platform for synchronous online interactions and providing access to a variety of asynchronous learning materials.
In addition, the aim is to develop a defined set of FORTHEM-specific educational activities involving physical mobility, and to provide appropriate support, incentives and recognition to all staff and students wishing to participate.
The FORTHEM Alliance boosts institutional cooperation between partner universities based on the key principles of responsible research and innovation and open science in the broadest sense. It deepens this cooperation by implementing already specified action plans and co-created agendas developed in the FIT FORTHEM project.
Building on the existing research strengths of the partner universities and a strong commitment to identifying and fostering new areas of high potential, the Alliance aims to shape its own research profile. This profile will be rooted in both basic and applied research, and will add a new dimension to existing profiles. It will also inform innovative educational programs.
FORTHEM’s regional roots give it the ability to spread the values of a multicultural Europe to the surrounding areas and “bring Europe home.”
FORTHEM aims to nurture strategic collaboration and the co-creation of knowledge and skills with citizens, cities, regions, schools, businesses, start-ups, social and cultural associations, to facilitate lifelong learning by providing new tools for the circulation of knowledge from universities to society and vice versa, and to foster intercultural and intergenerational exchanges and civic engagement projects in all European regions.
FORTHEM aims to build bridges between global priorities and local actions, using challenge-based approaches and establishing and maintaining networks of stakeholders from our universities with our surrounding territories to establish close international links.
Sharing the European University Association’s vision for universities in 2030, FORTHEM seeks to foster the development of students and staff as creative and critical thinkers, problem solvers and active, responsible citizens equipped for lifelong learning.
Innovative pedagogies and the development of forward-looking skills are the guiding principles of this mission.
The well-being of students and staff is at the heart of our pedagogical approach, as is the goal of sustainable change.
The FORTHEM Alliance has set up 9 Labs (think tanks) on nine themes responding to the challenges of today’s society.
- Food science
- Experiencing Europe
- Diversity and migration
- Multilingualism in school and higher education
- Digital transformation
- Climate and resources
- Resilience, life quality and demographic change
- Art and aesthetics in contemporary societies
- Cultural heritage
These Labs are made up of teacher-researchers, students and external partners. Each partner university focuses on one of these themes.
These Labs set up international interdisciplinary actions to establish research projects and networks, such as the organization of conferences, research projects, thesis coordination, etc.
Good to know
The UBE’s FORTHEM Unit regularly organizes online information bulletins for staff and students. The dates and TEAMS connection links are published online and sent by email. While you wait for the next information point, you can consult the recording of one of the previous meetings on TEAMS.
See also
- Receive funding under the FORTHEM ANR permanent call for projects for all UBE students and staff.
- FORTHEM Alliance website.
- Newsletter subscription.
- Alliance social networks: X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Discord.
FORTHEM actions, financially supported by the European Union and the Agence Nationale de Recherche – ANR (French National Research Agency), should enable you to take advantage of the schemes in place and carry out mobility projects within partner universities, with full or partial funding from the Université Bourgogne Europe.
