One year ERUA at Viadrina

For more than a year, the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) has been a member of the European Reform University Alliance (ERUA). On December 12, the university alliance celebrated its anniversary with a diverse program at all partner universities.

At Viadrina, the day began with a breakfast featuring experts from the region. Key players from administration, non-governmental organizations, (social) entrepreneurship, and civil society took part in a case study on the topic of "Social Entrepreneurship for Social Change." The focus was on identifying relevant social challenges and business opportunities within the ERUA university network. Participants gathered at the University’s Founding Center to discuss the study results over a pre-Christmas breakfast and to identify further opportunities for collaboration between the university and the region.

Following the official opening, the ERUA team at Viadrina held an intensive workshop to discuss the future goals of ERUA. Much has already happened in the past year, with ERUA activities growing across many levels at Viadrina – be it in student engagement, research, or administration. Team members from various departments, together with the department heads overseeing the key areas, exchanged ideas on the added value ERUA brings to Viadrina and its future objectives. Vice President Janine Nuyken was represented, alongside the IKMZ with Lisa Melcher, Franziska Liebetanz from the Center for Teaching and Learning, Ramona Alt from the Founding Center, Michaela Grün from University Communications, and, of course, the entire ERUA team at Viadrina. The conclusion of this intense exchange: ERUA is a great opportunity to amplify what Viadrina already stands for.

“ERUA is a booster to further promote topics such as Europe, student engagement, and reform at Viadrina,” said one workshop participant. The European alliance embodies reform, Europe, networking, student involvement, innovation in teaching and learning, and cross-border research collaborations – all areas for which Viadrina stands as well. Membership thus offers great potential to further strengthen the university's profile with additional resources and in collaboration with European partner universities, while also supporting the ongoing reform process.

In addition to the local events at Viadrina, interested individuals from the network could also participate in a hybrid program at the alliance level. For example, they were able to join the opening ceremony in Paris, a concert at the University of Macerata, or a lecture on disinformation at SWPS University in Poland. Furthermore, there was a Story Exchange workshop organized by ERUA students and a DigiTalk titled "ERUA Students & Local Societies." In a joint online session, the ERUA teams introduced themselves and celebrated ERUA Day together.

Another reason to celebrate was the release of the first edition of the student-led magazine CATCH UP!. Developed by ERUA students, it aims to showcase talents, ideas, and stories from the ERUA network. The first issue has been available online since December 12.

At Viadrina, ERUA Day was concluded with a small reception for the ERUA community. Students, researchers, and staff from Viadrina, who have already been involved in the network, gathered to celebrate the one-year anniversary and to toast to everything that is yet to come!

Further information:
https://erua-eui.eu/2024/12/13/12th-of-december-erua-day/
https://erua-eui.eu/2024/12/12/how-to-dissolve-the-truth-in-7-simple-steps-the-european-experience-of-disinformation-erua-day-swps/
https://www.europa-uni.de/de/universitaet/einrichtungen/serviceeinrichtungen/zentrum-lehre-lernen/erua/_bilder-und-pdf/WP7-ERUA-Student-Magazine.pdf

Sophia Grigull