UCD hosts Una Europa General Assembly
10 Jan 2024
UCD welcomed 300 members of the Una Europa community to our campus for the Una Europa General Assembly in December 2023. Una Europa is an alliance of 11 European universities, including UCD, who share the common goal of developing a truly European University of the Future.
The event tagline “What’s the story?” underscored three days of fruitful conversation, strategic reflection and cultural exchange among delegates. Highlights included the Una Europa Talk, spotlighting the role of European Universities alliances in transforming higher education in Europe; the GA Plenary session and workshops, exploring the Una Europa 2030 Strategy and milestones; and lunchtime events showcasing Ireland's history and culture, including traditional Irish music, storytelling performances, Irish language classes and Irish folklore and literature.
On Monday evening, 11 December, the Una Europa Talk was MC’ed by Newstalk’s Jonathan McCrea at O’Reilly Hall and featured a panel discussion titled ‘Rewriting the Script: European Universities alliances and the future of higher education’. The panellists were Prof. Orla Feely, President of University College Dublin and host of the General Assembly; Prof. Peter Lievens, Vice Rector International Policy, Interculturality, and Alumni Policy, KU Leuven; and Ms Patricia Reilly, Head of Cabinet for Commissioner Mairéad McGuinness, Financial Services, Financial Stability & Capital Markets Union.
Through an engaging conversation, the panellists addressed the theme of transformation for European higher education and what it means for institutions who embrace the European Universities Initiative; the challenges and opportunities for stakeholders at a local, national and European level; and how European education must evolve to continue to serve communities, the economy and society. The Una Europa Talk was recorded and can be watched back on the Una Europa YouTube channel.
The Talk was preceded by a wonderful live performance by UCD musician-in-residence Dónal Lunny, accompanied by Peter Moran and students from the UCD School of Music.
The Plenary session and strategic meeting, on Tuesday 12 December, featured personal and professional ‘stories’ from around the Una Europa community, a warm welcome from UCD President Prof. Orla Feely, and the official announcement of UCD VP for Global Engagement Prof. Dolores O’Riordan as the incoming Chair of the Una Europa Board of Directors. The Plenary output was nicely captured by a graphic harvester (see image above).
The Plenary was followed by a series of community workshops to reflect on the challenges and successes to date of the 2030 Strategy. Senior leadership, students, academics, researchers and professional services staff joined breakout groups to explore how a number of Institutional Drivers can shape the future of the alliance. The workshop outputs will be turned into draft reflections on the 2025–2026 milestones by the time the community meets again at the General Assembly in Zürich in June 2024.
A series of lunchtime cultural activities gave delegates a chance to explore UCD’s cultural and literary heritage each day of the General Assembly. The community had a rich range of options to choose from: storytelling performances by Niall de Búrca, with live music by Tama de Búrca (pictured above); a sculpture walking tour; behind-the-scenes at UCD Library’s Special Collection and the National Folklore Collection; an Irish language class; and two exhibitions – Ireland and the European Union, and UCD staff and student stories of ‘Belonging’.
The General Assembly ended with a short closing ceremony on Wednesday 13 December - with parting messages delivered by Prof. Orla Feely and festive songs sung by the UCD Community Choir.
The next General Assembly will be hosted by University of Zurich (UZH) in June 2024. Read about UZH’s experiences at the Dublin General Assembly here.
Find out how to get involved in Una Europa at UCD
Check out the Instagram Reel with the Student Board