8 University Leaders Confirm their Commitment to the EMERGE Consortium

The European Margins Engaging for Regional and Global Empowerment (EMERGE) consortium consists of 8 diverse universities situated on the periphery of Europe, with the core aim of developing flexible and innovative approaches to knowledge co-creation and human capital.  

The 8 EMERGE consortium leaders, gathered at the Irish Embassy in Brussels today, welcomed by Ambassador Kevin Conmy, to re-affirm their commitment to the mission and vision of EMERGE.  The signing signalled the official announcement of the EMERGE consortium intent to apply for a European Universities Initiative (EUI) project under the March 2022 deadline.

The consortium have been working together since 2019, founded and led by Dr Lesley Lelourec, Vice President International, University of Rennes 2, France, until October 2021, when Prof Mairead Moriarty, Vice President Global and Community Engagement, University of Limerick took the lead. It is fitting that in a year where Ireland is celebrating its 50th anniversary of the signing of the European membership treaty that the University of Limerick is the first Irish University signally its intent to apply to lead a European University Initiative.   

EMERGE seek to build on the current cooperation within and outside the Erasmus+ Programme including virtual exchanges, the EMERGE Student Forum, Cooperation Partnership Projects and Erasmus Mundus Design Measures. It aims to develop deeper transnational cooperation, with a model for implementing and achieving systemic, structural and sustainable cooperation, to create the EMERGE University of the future.  

EMERGE Members are: 

• University of Limerick, (UL) Ireland,  
• Neapolis University Pafos, (NUP) Cyprus,  
• Université Rennes 2 (UR2), France,
• Université Bretagne Sud (UBS), France,
• Europa-Universität Flensburg (EUF), Germany,
• Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences / Høgskolen i Innlandet (INN), Norway,
• Univerzita Mateja Bela v Banskej Bystrici (UMB), Slovakia
• Universidad de Burgos, (UBU), Spain