The European Campus of City-Universities (EC2U) Alliance brings together nine historic and multidisciplinary universities—Coimbra, Iași, Jena, Pavia, Poitiers, Salamanca, Turku, Linz, and Umeå. These universities share a strong international outlook while maintaining a deep local engagement, making them true city universities.

Among the associated partners are the nine municipalities of the partner universities, as well as other socioeconomic stakeholders, including technology hubs, student associations, chambers of commerce and the Ivan Franko University of Lviv in Ukraine.

The Alliance’s activities are inspired by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs), specifically: Good Health and Well-Being (#SDG3), Quality Education (#SDG4), Sustainable Cities and Communities (#SDG11) and Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions (#SDG16).

The Alliance’s goal is to develop a pan-European campus, an open and innovative space where people, knowledge, and initiatives circulate freely between universities and cities, transcending geographical and cultural boundaries. This new education model, rooted in a shared European identity, aims to foster an open and inclusive society.

The establishment of Virtual Institutes and joint master’s programmes is among the main actions carried out in the early years of the project (2020–2027), and these will be further developed in the medium and long term

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Funded by the European Commission, the European Campus of City-Universities (EC2U) project officially started on 1st November 2020, under the "European Universities Initiative" of the Erasmus+ programme (2019 Call – Erasmus+ Key Action 2 – European Universities). In July 2023 it secured renewed funding for a four-year period (2023–2027), which can be extended to six years (2027–29).

The University of Pavia has been a member of the EC2U Alliance since its inception and is actively engaged in all its activities. However, cooperation between EC2U partners dates back even further, as the member universities are also part of the Coimbra Group, a network of historic, multidisciplinary European universities committed to promote internationalization, academic excellence, and collaboration between universities and European institutions.

KEY FEATURES OF THE ALLIANCE

The EC2U Alliance stands out for:

• Joint governance across the 9 universities
• An interconnected university life across partner universities, with mobility of students, teaching staff and university staff, and cultural and sporting events 
• Tailored joint master’s programs, based on selected United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs):
  • Good Health and Well-Being
  • Quality Education
  • Sustainable Cities and Communities
  • Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
• Virtual Institutes (VIs) integrating education, research, and innovation, aligned with the above UNSDGs
• A unique collaboration model between universities, cities, and socioeconomic stakeholders, strengthened by the annual EC2U Forum

The EC2U Alliance offers numerous short-term mobility opportunities for students, faculty, and administrative staff.

For more information, visit the EC2U Alliance website or contact ec2u.@unipv.it.