"The EURECA-PRO Review Weeks are important opportunities to accelerate progress and seek understanding between all our partner universities and thus shape the future of European higher education together," says Professor Bernard Vanheusden. He is Rector of the University of Hasselt in Belgium and was elected by the rectors of the EURECA-PRO universities as their spokesperson. "During this visit, I am particularly looking forward to learning first-hand about the rich history of the Central Saxony region and the Ore Mountains. As a region with a mining history, it has the same identity as the Limburg region in Belgium, where Hasselt University is located. Learning more about the significant innovations in this region, many of which date back to the 18th and 19th centuries, will certainly be inspiring."

In addition to Hochschule Mittweida, TU Bergakademie Freiberg and the University of Hasselt, EURECA-PRO includes the Montanuniversität Leoben (Austria), the Technical University of Crete (Greece), the Universidad de León (Spain), the Silesian Technical University (Poland), the University of Petroșani (Romania) and the Université de Lorraine (France). Over the coming week, members of the new partner universities will be working in various working groups to intensify their cooperation, for example by developing joint study programmes and joint research projects - but also by actively involving society.

"In the coming years, the university alliance will increasingly bring together specialised focal points for innovation and sustainable business and further simplify interdisciplinary education and research. With ambitious initiatives, the partners are currently working at all levels to become a joint European campus for sustainable consumption and production. EURECA-PRO is thus also helping to achieve the goals of the EU Green Deal and the UN's Sustainable Development Goals," says Professor Klaus-Dieter Barbknecht, Rector of TU Bergakademie Freiberg.

Together with Professor Volker Tolkmitt, Rector of Mittweida University of Applied Sciences, Barbknecht and Vanheusden are members of the EURECA-PRO Board of Rectors, which steers the development of the university alliance. "EURECA-PRO is pursuing the ambitious goal of becoming an international leader in the field of sustainable consumption and production of goods and resources within a few years. EURECA-PRO is already a European role model for cross-border inter-university cooperation and the open involvement of society in its goals and measures," says Tolkmitt. "EURECA-PRO stands for what we stand for in Central Saxony and far beyond: For the opportunity to successfully forge new paths together. More than 100,000 people are already studying in our university alliance today."

This Monday, the student council of the university alliance will meet in Mittweida to coordinate its positions for the upcoming working meetings with the university staff. After the official opening of Review Week in the TV studio at Mittweida University of Applied Sciences, the various working groups will focus on topics such as project management, education, research, administration and science communication. The working meetings will continue on Wednesday and Thursday in Freiberg. The aim is to jointly determine the next steps to achieve the ambitious goal of a joint virtual and integrated European campus.

"The aim is to carry what has been achieved so far into the second project phase and beyond into the future. The direct exchange between the committed employees and students on site at the various Alliance locations is essential for this," says Barbknecht. Tolkmitt adds: "The very novelty of a European University means that small and large obstacles have to be overcome. This alliance goes far beyond previous collaborations and should lead to close international and institutional links."