The seven partner universities have set up the Circle U. AISBL to frame the long-term collaboration in the alliance.
On Tuesday 30 March, the Circle U. partner universities established Circle U. AISBL as an international not-for-profit organisation under Belgian law. The official signing took place at Louvain-la-Neuve in the presence of the President of the Université de Paris, Christine Clerici, Hege Landmark-Høyvik, Counsellor for Education in the Mission of Norway to the EU, representing the University of Oslo, and Rector Vincent Blondel of UCLouvain, who also signed on behalf of Aarhus University, the University of Belgrade, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and King’s College London. Given the Covid-19 pandemic, strict sanitary measures were put in place.
The establishment of the new organisation marks a first milestone in the 3-year Erasmus+ project to set up the alliance. But the new organisation also points beyond the initial project collaboration.
"The Circle U. AISBL shows our commitment to building a truly European University, and will help facilitate the long-term joint management of our alliance. It gives us a framework for working together that goes beyond project cycles, and provides a platform for collaboration with other universities and other organisations on our own terms and on a longer horizon", says Rector Blondel.
From left to right: Christine Clerici, Vincent Blondel et Hege Landmark-Høyvik.