Excellence with and for All: Arqus Presents its New Vision for the Next Decade

The Arqus Alliance has defined its vision for the next 10 years, setting out the necessary steps to become a future-oriented, open, integrated and research-driven European University, with the fundamental mission of building transformative excellence with and for all.

The Mission Statement describes the renewed vision and mission of the Alliance for the next decade, its values and major goals, along with Arqus key identifying features and cross-cutting enabling strategies. It also contains the Arqus Joint Strategy 2022 – 2032, a section where three main periods are defined: the current initial pilot period devoted to laying the foundations of the Alliance (2019 – 2022), the new period ahead where major milestones will be achieved (2022 – 2026), and a third period for finishing touches towards the full implementation of the Alliance (2026 – 2032).

This long-term strategy builds on the Alliance’s experience of working together since 2018, in particular during the first Erasmus+ Work Plan 2019-22 (Arqus I) and the Horizon 2020 SwafS Work Plan (Arqus R&I), on the many lessons learned, not least during the pandemic of COVID-19, and on valuable contributions from our new members, Minho and Wroclaw, incorporated in late 2021 to complement our existing strengths and geographical balance, as part of the Alliance’s enlargement for the next stage of implementation.

Since the Alliance was selected for funding in 2019, an immense effort has been made to reduce and/or remove the barriers to effective cooperation between the university members through building trust, deepening mutual knowledge as well as sharing policies, structures and resources. Although this is an ongoing and cross-cutting effort, we are now already better prepared to respond in the coming years to major European and global challenges that demand an empowered citizenship for the global world, sustainable progress and participation in politics and science.

Between 2022 and 2026, Arqus will continue consolidating its joint academic offer, reinforcing innovation in teaching, learning and assessment, increasing and diversifying mobility of all kinds for students and staff, and implementing a Joint Research Action Plan.

It will also deepen its focus on communities, promoting student and staff engagement through three separate initiatives: 1) the Arqus Living Lab, as a generator of innovative responses to Climate Change & Sustainable Development; Artificial Intelligence & Digital Transformation; European Identity & Heritage. 2) Arqus Communities of Practice will address domain-based challenges for professional and academic staff. 3) the Arqus Student Agora will constitute a dynamic framework for student-led co-creation initiatives.

“Arqus is working on the design, testing and implementation of an innovative model for deep inter-university cooperation, which will serve as the basis for a truly European campus fulfilling all the missions of a university for the 21st century. We are very much looking forward to the 10 years ahead, where different action plans will help us consolidate this long-term initiative that will change and is already changing the higher education scene”, says Dorothy Kelly, Coordinator of the Arqus Alliance and Vice-Rector for Internationalization at the University of Granada. Dorothy continues “today, more than ever, it is necessary to intensify our role in the defence of democratic values, the search for peace and the support to higher education institutions damaged by the war in Ukraine. Thus, a major goal of the Alliance for the new period will continue to be the enhancement of intercultural competence and global understanding and respect for diversity throughout our communities.”