From EUPRIO President Paolo Pomati
During the recent Prague conference, seeking new partners was a strong part of the new EUPRIO strategy. Our principal targets are the other European organisations that share our objectives and cover the same issues – higher education in particular. Partners will help us to gain greater insight into the topics we discuss at both the international and national levels.
This is the culminating step in the strategy of the current Presidency. We are constantly focused on establishing relationships with various European organisations. In 2008 we started to communicate with EUA (European University Association) and supported their Fall Workshops dedicated to facilitating the exchange of ideas, opinions and best practices among communicators. EUA’s President, professor Jean-Marc Rapp, delivered an inspiring keynote speech during our annual Conference in Stresa in 2010; the President of EUPRIO was invited as a speaker of a seminar of the EUA Experts’ Conference “Towards financially sustainable Universities: Diversifying income streams”, which took place in Bologna in September 2010. Contacts have already been established with the elected president of EUA, professor Maria Helena Nazaré.
Another milestone was the establishment of a relationship with ESMU, the European Centre for Strategic Management of Universities, which accepted our association’s proposal. EUPRIO was invited to step into their “MODERN” platform (European Platform for Higher Education Modernisation) as an associate partner. A delegation attended the ESMU Conference in London in January 2010 and ESMU’s President, professor Frans Van Vught, delivered an applauded lectio magistralis at our annual Conference in Prague in 2011.
We managed to get in touch with the European Research Council, which was a sponsor at our Prague Conference and to delivered an appreciated Master Class. There are good grounds to believe that this cooperation will flourish in the future.
We are keeping in touch with the DG Education and Culture of the European Commission and many other associations have contacted EUPRIO to try and establish relationships – EUCSEA, EACD, EAPRIL, EUPRERA. We are also in discussion with CASE and AURIL as well.
Our partner strategy will improve our association, our visibility, and will open new ways of making the voice of higher education communicators heard.
