It will take place from October 23 to 25, and staff from the eight Higher Education Institutions of the Alliance will attend. The objective is to obtain a global vision of the work done so far and to plan the future of the Alliance.
For three days, from October 23 to 25, more than one hundred professors and technical and administrative staff involved in the implementation of UNIgreen will gather at the University of Almeria for the first annual meeting of the Joint International Centre (JIC) of UNIgreen, The green European University. The JIC is the operational structure of the Alliance, composed of 10 Units and a Quality Committee, and formed by 160 people from the eight partner institutions.
In this face-to-face JIC meeting, the participants will have the opportunity to hold joint meetings to get a detailed overview of the work done, share results, and discuss and plan the future of the Alliance in terms of mobility, digital transformation, or the visibility of the Alliance.
Regarding mobility, which is one of the main objectives of UNIgreen, essential steps are already being taken. Tomás Lorenzana, Director of Internationalization Strategy of the University of Almeria and General Coordinator of UNIgreen, said: “For the last two calls, from the Vice-rectorate for Internationalization, we are giving an additional amount of 100 euros per month to UAL students who choose one of the universities that are part of the Alliance”.
In addition, Lorenzana has declared that the Alliance is already working on implementing double or multiple joint degrees. “We have to work, as much as possible, to boost the mobility of students within the Alliance. A double degree agreement in Biotechnology with Institut Sup’Biotech in Paris is in progress. This collaboration will allow the students of the University of Almeria to obtain a degree in Biotechnology Engineering from one of the most prestigious institutions in France in this area. And the students of Paris Sup’Biotech will graduate with our Master’s Degree in Industrial and Agri-Food Biotechnology”.
As for local participants, local and regional authorities will attend, as well as the so-called Associated Partners, public institutions, and companies in the province that have joined this project. Their participation is vital to achieving the long-term vision of UNIgreen and its engagement in the productive and social network of Almeria.
“The event will be important because it is our first in-person meeting. It will help to plan the achievement of the subsequent objectives of the Alliance and, it will help to build teams and strengthen ties between the staff of the eight partner institutions”, explained María Fernanda Rodríguez, responsible for European Projects at the UAL and Technical Coordinator of UNIgreen.
The event will start on the 23rd with an opening session followed by four plenary sessions with topics of interest to all participants. Topics include management, coordination and governance, digital transformation, communication, and quality control of the Alliance.
During the second working day, parallel sessions will take place where staff involved in each work package will establish the corresponding Annual Work Plan. In addition, the Board of Directors and the Management Panel will hold meetings. The Management Panel is responsible for closely monitoring the activities carried out to detect deviations and make progress on the Alliance’s agenda.
On the final day, there will be bilateral inter-work package meetings to discuss topics that require a multidisciplinary perspective. These issues affect more than one of the six dimensions of the Alliance, for example, the development of joint programs, the UNIgreen Virtual Campus, and future events like the UNIgreen Summer Festival.
