The midyear meeting held in Bilbao was designed as an upholder of areas that need further reinforcement or a more defined vision by key officers and executives.
Circa 150 members of the 10 universities met in the event hosted by the University of the Basque Country in the biannual boning up sessions. The Governing and Directors´ Boards audited the progress made by the Alliance in the last semester and addressed the most strategic matters for the near future, while the Students´ Board presented their Sustainability Action Plan.
The parallel work sessions included a legal study of associative alternatives and requirements, a review of the Research and Innovation networks and tools that are strategic and solid enough to be developped beyond the scope of the close-to-completion SwafS Project, and a reflection on strategic IT vision with a view to leverage the existing Digital Course Catalogue, among others.
At present, the Alliance has set 10 action points to stand up for in coming years, including support to academics who wish to find peers across the ENLIGHT partners, widespread mobility for students and staff and activating the alliance´s potential for societal engagement.
The host institution tradicionally chooses a topic of interest to present to the different partners and to showcase a field of excellence in that University. On this occasion, the University of the Basque Country decided to dedícate its “Inspirational session” to its relation with the sea, and specifically with the preservation of health and valorization of the ocean. To this end, several collaborative educational and research projects were described, and external partners like the Aquarium Donostia and Albaola Faktoria presented their research and outreach endeavour.
The cultural activity was also related to this theme and participants enjoyed a guided visit to Bilbao´s Itsas Museum to discover the former importance of whale hunting for Basque science and economy or the most recent surfing fashion and the qualities of Basque waves, which attract an increasing number of surfers every year.
Presidential term assumed by the University of Bern
The rector of the University of the Basque Country, Eva Ferreira, handed over the presidency of the Alliance to her counterpart at the University of Bern, Virginia Richter, for the next six months.
The Alliance has now several years of history behind it and a number of promiment members of the Alliance, who took part in initial phases of this ambitious project, will soon leave their institutions due to retirement, graduation or other life-cycle changes; their contribution to the formation of the Alliance from its very beginning was thankfully acknowledged.