From 5th to 7th October 2021, Vilnius University (VU) will host the 2021 Annual Conference of the Arqus European University Alliance. Key executives, rectors of Alliance universities, international experts in higher education and research, and representatives of EU higher education policy will gather in Vilnius for the first in-person event of this kind. A delegation of the University of Graz, led by Rector Martin Polaschek, will also join the meeting of seven Arqus-universities.
On 5th October, the first day of the annual conference, everyone is welcome to the opening of the event, which will include a special greeting from the French President Emmanuel Macron dedicated to the Arqus Annual Conference and an exclusive speech by higher education expert Peter van der Hijden. The opening and greeting of the conference and will broadcast live on the Arqus YouTube Channel.
The Arqus Annual Conference consists of a public part, the conference “University in the transforming world: catching up with or getting ahead of time,” and a closed part for working meetings where various working groups will discuss the future of the Alliance and possible challenges. The first Arqus Annual Conference aims to reflect on the role of European alliances in solving the challenges faced by higher education in the 21st century, changing universities’ behaviour models and rediscovering opportunities for collaboration.
Despite the limitations imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, in terms of both travel restrictions and limits on the number of participants at the venue, this is a unique opportunity to strengthen the links among the seven universities and to continue building the Arqus community, who constitute the real foundations of the Alliance.