Bragança Polytechnic University (IPB) represented the STARS EU Alliance at the Forum of Portuguese Higher Education Institutions in European University Alliances (FOR.UE.PT), an event that brought together more than 60 representatives from universities across the country to discuss the challenges and opportunities of higher education internationalisation in Europe.

Held at the University of Algarve (Faro, Portugal), the forum featured the participation of Luís Pais, Vice-President of IPB and member of the STARS EU Steering Committee, who emphasised the alliance’s commitment to interuniversity cooperation and to promoting a more connected, inclusive, and sustainable higher education system.

The FOR.UE.PT aims to coordinate common responses to the challenges faced by European university alliances, promote academic mobility, and strengthen the sustainable funding of international projects. It also serves as a platform for sharing best practices and fostering collaboration among Portuguese institutions that are members of European university networks.

The meeting included the roundtable “The Future of Europe – Skills Union and European Alliances”, moderated by Carla Ruivo, coordinator of the Erasmus+ Programme in Portugal, which addressed the role of universities in building a European Skills Union focused on talent retention, innovation, and inclusive education.

The discussion featured Manuel Heitor, former Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education and author of the report “Align, Act, Accelerate”; Daniel Aragão, President of FAIRe; and Rodrigo Carlos, President of the Academic Association of the University of Algarve.

Challenges of internationalisation

In the afternoon session, Cristina Perdigão, Director of the Portuguese Erasmus+ National Agency for Education and Training, presented “Challenges for Internationalisation – The Next Erasmus+ European Financial Framework”, highlighting Portugal as a European benchmark in the implementation of the Erasmus+ programme.

Following this, Vanessa Vargas, from CAPES (the Brazilian Federal Foundation for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel), delivered the presentation “Beyond Europe: Partnerships with Global Institutions”, reflecting on international cooperation beyond the European area, particularly with universities in Brazil and Latin America.

The forum’s conclusions underlined the need to strengthen communication and student engagement within the alliances, as well as to expand funding and reduce economic inequalities that still limit access to international experiences for many students.

The first edition of the BIP FutureLab Camp ended just a few days ago with the presentation of a range of concrete solutions in the fields of urban development, infrastructure, identity and promotion for the city of Zakliczyn (Poland). The closing event was attended by 26 students from the Cracow University of Technology (Poland), Bragança Polytechnic University (Portugal), Marie et Louis Pasteur University (France) and Hanze University of Applied Sciences (the Netherlands) — members of STARS EU — as well as about a dozen academics and another European institutions.

The diversity of specialisms — architecture, computer science, management and art history — has been one of the key assets of this Blended Intensive Programme (BIP), which started in the first quarter of 2025 (in person) and continued until June (online).

Using posters and panels, the students (in person and online) presented three specific urban concepts for Zakliczyn that promote local development and boost the expansion of tourism in the area, which is home to resources such as the Dunajec River, Zakliczyn Market Square, examples of sacral architecture, the ruins of Melsztyn Castle and the Krzysztof Penderecki European Music Centre in Lusławice.

Students’ proposals

Some of the suggestions put forward by the students highlight ideas for the pedestrian bridge, with visualisations and physical models, the design of a new website and possible internet infrastructure solutions intended for tourists visiting Zakliczyn. Alongside these contributions, the marketing plan designed for the municipality, a key result of this BIP, is a very important document: a total of 130 pages encapsulating exhaustive analysis and original ideas to showcase the potential of this charming city.

The concepts proposed by the students received praise from the Mayor of Zakliczyn, Dawid Chrobak. “The collaboration between Zakliczyn and Cracow University of Technology began with the idea of designing a pedestrian and bicycle bridge over the Dunajec River, connecting the castle ruins in Melsztyn to Zakliczyn. That was the starting point. However, the students developed extensive, professional marketing and urban planning documents that go far beyond the initial goal of enhancing the tourism potential of Zakliczyn and nearby towns. We plan to present the results — i.e., the concepts of the bridge and public spaces — to the local council and community,” said Mayor Chrobak.

Evaluation by the authorities

At the event, which took place in the Faculty of Architecture, the “high quality” of the work carried out by the architecture students of CUT, as well as their fellow students from the partner universities, was highlighted. The students worked on urban solutions aimed at uncovering the identity of a small but beautiful town with a rich past, outstanding cultural heritage and a strong musical tradition, particularly in the context of the Krzysztof Penderecki European Music Centre.

The architectural task consisted of designing a bridge to connect Zakliczyn with Melsztyn Castle. The students from the University of Bragança developed marketing strategies, with spatio-temporal solutions based on a city game, explained the academic supervisor, Dr hab. inż. arch. Kinga Racoń-Leja, Prof. PK.

The Mayor of Zakliczyn stated that the suggested proposals will be implemented in the city and stressed “the enormous professionalism” of the students’ work, who, as supervisors involved in developing these concepts, will present their results to the authorities and the local community in the coming months.

For her part, the Vice-Rector, Dr hab. inż. Katarzyna Bizon, expressed her satisfaction with the result shown by the groups of students in their final presentations, filled with great creativity, and with the successful conclusion of an international collaboration project such as FutureLab.

An innovative pedagogical model

FutureLab Camp is not the first of the international educational projects in which students from CUT’s Faculty of Architecture are involved, within the framework of STARS EU. As part of the Thematic Interest Group (TIG) Living Spaces, these workshops have been underway regularly since last year, thereby boosting the internationalisation of the education process.

“This kind of project is filled with pedagogical value, but it also poses a challenge, both for the students and for the professors, as it requires considerable effort, collaboration in other languages and with groups from different cultures, and the ability to provide solutions that are relevant to external stakeholders,” stressed Dr inż. arch. Ernestyna Szpakowska-Loranc. The expert also explained that this edition presented an even greater challenge, as the work was carried out in interdisciplinary groups.

Future editions: France and Portugal

The agreements reached in STARS EU guarantee the continuity of this Blended Intensive Programme. The next meetings will take place in France in 2026 and in Portugal in 2027. “We have been working for months alongside our partners on the framework for the next edition, based on the experiences of Kraków and Zakliczyn, where we have demonstrated that working in interdisciplinary and international groups is effective and brings tangible benefits to all involved,” said Adam Sadło, leader of Task 2.5 in STARS EU.

*The student selection process of the next edition will begin  in June 2025 at all STARS EU universities.

STARS EU will be represented at the “European Universities Initiative 5 Years On: A Research and Practice Symposium” at Università della Svizzera Italiana (USI), Lugano, Switzerland between June 2^nd and 3^rd 2025.

The EUI, involving some 570 higher education institutions in 65 alliances by 2025, marks a significant transformation in the European higher education landscape.

This symposium, coinciding with the fifth anniversary of the first European Universities Initiative (EUI) alliances, offers a crucial platform for gathering evidence to be able to critically evaluate the EUI’s impact, exploring its achievements and challenges, and shaping its future direction.

STARS EU Project Evaluator, Alexandra Hashem-Wangler, will represent the alliance at this meeting.

“I am looking forward to joining over 60 presenters contributing to the research on the development of the European Universities Initiative! STARS EU European University is growing and this is a great opportunity to connect and exchange ideas, experiences and approaches regarding impact and effectiveness, collaboration and integration, innovation and transformation, as well as future directions of the EUI”, says STARS EU Project Evaluator Alexandra Hashem-Wangler from the alliance’ German partner Hochschule Bremen, City University of Applied Sciences.