ENGAGE.EU: THE NEW UNIVERSITIES' ALLIANCE SELECTED BY THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Rome, July 15^th - The European Commission has announced the results of the second call for ‘European Universities’ alliances, EU’s flagship initiative to build the universities of the future. Italian University 'Luiss' participates in Engage, one of the selected consortia.

Engage is a consortium of seven universities sharing European values and a global outlook: University of Mannheim (Germany) – Coordinator, Luiss Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli (Italy), NHH Norwegian School of Economics (Norway), Tilburg University (The Netherlands), University of National and World Economy (Bulgaria), University Toulouse 1 Capitole (France), and WU Vienna University of Economics and Business (Austria).

All institutions together are currently an academic home to over 100,000 students, academics and staff. The alliance will exploit the unique synergies of its excellent members, taking existing collaborations to a new dimension guided by a joint approach and a common goal, where each university brings its unique perspective shaped by its academic areas of specialization as well as geographical and economic context.

Andrea Prencipe, rector of Luiss University, says that the idea behind Engage is to "educate the future citizens of Europe".

Students are expected to attend classes in Rome. On campus professors, students and staff are abiding by the rules set by the government. On the other hand, given the pandemic situation still ongoing, students will be able to attend classes online. "For this reason, we have made major investments in our digital infrastructure, so that they can live an immersive experience even if they are attending from home", says Prencipe.

Building on a solid fundament in the social sciences, the alliance is based on a comprehensive approach, following three interconnected paths: Engaged Learning, Engaged Research and Innovation and Engaged in Society. More specifically, the partner universities pursue the goal of developing new joint courses and teaching formats addressing current, future-oriented topics. These offers shall not only involve the institutions’ actual students, but also interested learners from society in general.

In research, among other things, a think tank is intended to enrich the structural cooperation between researchers, learners and other alliance actors. Finally, Engage Labs enable universities to exchange ideas with stakeholders from civil society and business and open up space for innovations.