USil Handed the T4EU Presidency Over to VMU

A year has passed since the University of Silesia in Katowice took over the T4EU Presidency, being the first to assume the role in the Transform4Europe Alliance. Its goal has been to develop collaboration between partner universities. On 22 October 2024, during the Strategic Assembly, Prof. Ryszard Koziołek, the Rector of the University of Silesia, handed the T4EU Presidency over to Prof. Juozas Augustis, the Rector of the Vytautas Magnus University.

Each Presidency is tied to determining vital priorities and setting directions for the Alliance’s operation. The University of Silesia has focused on three areas: establishing the the legal status of the Alliance, fostering the collaboration with Mariupol State University, and promoting events within the European City of Science Katowice 2024, USil is the leader of.

We have taken various measures, encouraging discussion and information exchange so that we can establish together the best legal status for our Alliance as a whole and for each partner separately. To reach our goals, we have managed to organise a productive meeting in Brussels. The working team led by Prof. Tomasz Pietrzykowski put immense efforts into the comparative analysis of a wide array of solutions to present specific answers to the Alliance’s Executive Board. Establishing the legal status of Transform4Europe is one of the most vital decisions the entire Alliance faces.

Mariupol State University has become an associated partner of the Transform4Europe Alliance. We have been doing our best to strengthen the collaboration with our partner from Ukraine. Thanks to the funding from the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange, we have been given a chance to support representatives of the academic community of our partner so that they can take part in events organised by Transform4Europe and dedicated training sessions and courses.

The University of Silesia in Katowice is also a leader of the consortium that managed to secure a respectable title for Katowice: the European City of Science 2024. Thanks to this great opportunity, we are able to share with the Alliance our ways of using education and science to work for our region, Poland and Europe. Inviting partners of our Alliance has been and will remain open. To express our bonds, the EU Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS) awards ceremony featured prizes from Transform4Europe.

Now, the Presidency is the duty of our Lithuanian partner – Vytautas Magnus University. Prof. Juozas Augutis, VMU Rector, has already introduced the action plan for the coming year:

“Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) is proud to undertake the T4EU Presidency for the forthcoming year and to offer the partnership a path towards solidifying our common efforts and ambitions.

For the year 2025, VMU invites all the partners to muster our endeavours along the axes of lifelong learning, visionary and ethical leadership, innovative and creative thinking, as well as interdisciplinarity and inclusivity. Professional excellence will be brought into the spotlight by strengthening community competence development, fostering civic engagement and nurturing social responsibility. We will urge to reconsider the Idea of a University in contemporary society brushing up its visionary and leadership role for societal impact and advancement. Global threats and uncertainties, environmental and geopolitical challenges, as well as cultural issues, will be addressed by fostering innovative and creative entrepreneurship spirit. Moreover, stronger connections and dialogue with social partners, including businesses, industries, and cultural institutions, will further contribute to a more vibrant, inclusive and interconnected community where everybody’s identities are acknowledged and appreciated and where attitudes and opinions are freely voiced and shared.

We believe that, by working together and sharing our knowledge, we can make a real difference. We see universities as vibrant hubs where people connect, collaborate, and come up with innovative solutions to the world’s challenges. We believe that by working with a diverse community of partners – businesses, artists, politicians, and members of the local community – we can contribute to positive transformation for home societies and Europewide”.