Umeå University ready for European collaboration
On 1 May, it was announced that Umeå University will become a member of a European alliance of nine European universities. The universities in the alliance are roughly the same size, all are distinct campus universities and cooperate with university hospitals, just like Umeå University. All universities are also located in cities with similar geographical conditions to Umeå.
Published: 2025-05-06 Text: Gunilla Stendahl
Map that shows participating countries in the EC2U alliance.
ImageEC2UThe Alliance is shortened EC2U and is named European Campus of City-Universities and includes collaboration in education, research and innovation, campus development and various student activities. Cooperation within the Alliance focuses, among other things, on student mobility and strengthening European higher education and research.
Cathrine Norberg, deputy Vice-Chancellor for Education at Umeå University.
ImageMattias Pettersson"Together within EC2U, we will be able to facilitate more exciting exchanges for students, and contribute to new research collaborations in a number of areas. This type of long-term European collaboration also provides an opportunity to both strengthen and simplify the utilisation of international elements in both education and research," says Cathrine Norberg, deputy Vice-Chancellor for Education at Umeå University.
Alliance for both academia and society
The EC2U Alliance is also working on four of the UN Global Goals - Good Health and Wellbeing, Quality Education, Sustainable Cities and Communities, and Peace, Justice and strong institutions - in both education and research. There are currently newly launched Master's programmes in these areas, involving around 80 students from the different universities in the Alliance.
After all, a university is as much an academy as it is an important societal actor. To utilise this perspective, each university in the alliance will involve a number of local and regional partners. The university's student unions are of course obvious partners for Umeå University. In addition to these, Umeå Municipality, Region Västerbotten, Folkuniversitetet i Umeå, Västerbotten Chamber of Commerce and IKSU are also important.
Umeå University's participation in the alliance also provides an opportunity to influence the European education and research landscape and work to ensure that academic values are safeguarded.
Tora Holmberg, Vice-Chancellor of Umeå University.
ImageMattias Pettersson"In times of great unrest and crises both in the world and in Europe's immediate neighbourhood, it is particularly important that we collaborate between universities and that we can strengthen and support each other," says Tora Holmberg, Vice-Chancellor of Umeå University.
Universities in the alliance
France: University of Poitiers (koordinator)
Portugal: University of Coimbra
Romania: Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași
Germany: Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Italy: University of Pavia
Spain: University of Salamanca
Finland: University of Turku
Austria: Johannes Kepler University Linz
Sweden: Umeå universitet
The EC2U alliance also has a friendship with Ivan Franko University in Lviv, Ukraine. This is a move that EC2U made even before Umeå University became a member, to show support for academia there in the difficult situation they find themselves in.