U!REKA alliance and its governance in a nutshell
U!REKA European University started its journey as Erasmus+ funded European University alliance in 2024 to respond to the European Universities Initiative call (European Commission, 2025). However, the U!REKA collaboration had been established already in 2016.
U!REKA partners consist of applied universities that together tackle challenges related to climate-neutral and smart cities through joint education, research and innovation activities. Besides six full partner universities (Amsterdam UAS, Frankfurt UAS, HOGENT UAS, Metropolia UAS, Polytechnic University of Lisbon and VSB Technical University of Ostrava), U!REKA has 24 associated partners including local cities, regions, research and innovation institutes, further universities and European network organizations. (U!REKA, 2025).
The highest decision-making body in U!REKA is the Steering Committee with its members being the rectors of partner universities and the representatives of students and external stakeholders. The operational decision-making power lies in the Executive Committee that consists of institutional coordinators and work package leaders.
A major shift (as our Erasmus+ project is called) was required in the U!REKA Governance to facilitate deep institutional transformation, and this is why we established new advisory bodies such an external Advisory Council, a Student Council as well as Quality and Sustainability Task Forces that are to support the Steering Committee and the Executive committee in their decision-making.
The power of informal gatherings
Besides enhancing the formal alliance governance, in the beginning of U!REKA European University we launched regular informal face-to-face rectors’ meetings. While these rectors’ meetings are not part of the official governance structure of U!REKA alliance and they do not have any decision-making authority, they aim to enhance the partners’ institutional engagement and commitment to U!REKA European University. To date, there have been four such meetings. The following presents their main contents and significant outcomes to U!REKA alliance collaboration.
Meeting 1. Setting the basis for deep collaboration
At Metropolia UAS, we emphasized two important points for the first informal rectors’ meeting. First, the invitation was for rectors only, and second, their participation was to be face-to-face. This was to make a shift from the old steering committee, where the institutions could have representatives other than rectors. We thought including rectors from all partners was critical to ensure the equal engagement and commitment of all partners.
Metropolia UAS organized the first rectors’ meeting together with the Helsinki EU Office. We prepared a detailed advocacy program for the rectors to discuss deep institutional transformation that was expected from fully fledged European Universities with the European Commission and representatives from other alliances. The meeting resulted in a shared understanding that we need to involve the whole university in alliance collaboration and that this cannot be achieved without U!REKA being embedded in the strategy of all partner universities.
Meeting 2. Joint brainstorming and ideation
The second rectors’ meeting focused on internal reflection and analyses about the transformation potential of each U!REKA university. However, since we were in Brussels during the EU Week of Regions and Cities, we also met our local and regional stakeholders to discuss U!REKA’s contribution to the EU mission on climate-neutral and smart cities.
The second meeting was important for me personally as a U!REKA Lead Coordinator to understand how the rectors perceived the importance of U!REKA alliance to their own institution and what their expectations and needs were in developing the alliance further. The rectors expressed a wish to hold future meetings in different U!REKA partner universities to learn more about their strengths, competences, and ways of working. This meeting was valuable for initiating new ideas for collaboration beyond the initial project scope.
Meeting 3. UAS BFI Vienna and discussions on key topics
The third rectors’ meeting was co-organized by the University of Applied Sciences BFI Vienna and Metropolia University of Applied Sciences. UAS BFI Vienna provided the rectors with a comprehensive introduction to the university’s operations and the local collaboration with stakeholders in the U!REKA thematic focus on climate-neutral and smart cities.
My role was to collect the rectors’ needs and wishes for discussion and prepare an agenda accordingly. The rectors presented key topics to each other related to professional doctorate programs, institutional RDI strategies, and geopolitics. We also discussed U!REKA collaboration with other European Universities and national ministries as part of two recently funded Erasmus+ projects (FOREU4ALL, 2025; Future4Alliances, 2025). The meeting was important for deepening the relationships between the U!REKA rectors and the UAS BFI Vienna top management, as well as for sharing best practices and insights from partner universities.
Meeting 4. HOGENT and the appointment of new U!REKA chair
The fourth rectors’ meeting continued to help the rectors learn about the strengths, competences, and profiles of different partner institutions. This meeting was also special as it coincided with the 30-year anniversary of HOGENT University of Applied Sciences and Arts and featured the transition of U!REKA Steering Committee chair from Metropolia UAS rector to HOGENT rector. The meeting was fully organized by HOGENT. The rectors continued the discussion on professional doctorates and geopolitics, but also discussed internationalization strategies, ethics and critical thinking. Once again the rectors initiated wider institutional engagement and collaboration for U!REKA beyond the U!REKA project focus to initiate meetings between finance directors and research directors to discuss sustainable funding and ethics in defense collaboration.
The impact of the face-to-face meetings so far
The informal face-to-face rectors’ meetings have become a key element in the U!REKA way of working. The planning for the 5th meeting in Frankfurt, scheduled for March 2026, is ongoing. I can at this stage already confirm that broad institutional commitment to U!REKA would not have been possible without the informal face-to-face rectors’ meetings. The meetings have served the rectors in building trust and personal relationships with each other. This has helped them to openly share and support each other in finding ways to promote alliances in their universities. I found that this support is crucial for our alliance to succeed in its ambitions.
Based on my observations, the U!REKA Steering Committee’s two-hour meetings alone would never have been enough to make our rectors such a close circle, wanting and longing for deep collaboration. Some of our partner institutions have already embedded U!REKA in their institutional strategy and established their local U!REKA governance models with the stakeholders. Some of the partners have embedded U!REKA in their university visual identity, covering not only digital but also campus presence and certificates. These initiatives have empowered staff and students alike, fostering a shared sense of belonging and ownership in the U!REKA alliance.
Five key insights for building successful European University alliances
Based on our U!REKA experience we recommend that European University alliances devote time, especially in the beginning of alliance collaboration, to bringing their rectors together to share their views and discuss on an informal basis. This kind of top management attention is needed to enhance the links between the institutional and alliance strategies to ensure the whole university commitment in the implementation of the alliance strategy.
In our alliance we have moreover seen it is highly important that all partners design locally how to best organize themselves and develop collaboration towards our shared alliance mission. This is because we all have different local, regional, and national contexts, and we have different university structures in terms of organization and management, as well as different organizational cultures and ways of working. Despite this it is important to share in the rectors’ meetings how we make local adaptations as some of them might also work for other partners. At the same time, we keep building our joint way of working alongside U!REKA values of co-creation, inclusion and boldness. Our rectors have also initiated U!REKA awards to celebrate successful U!REKA collaborative initiatives and give recognition to people behind them as part of our U!REKA Connects annual meetings.
Our key insights and takeaways for other alliances can be summarized as follows:
1. Prioritize Leadership Engagement
Hold regular, informal face-to-face meetings among university leaders to build trust and commitment beyond formal governance structures
2. Embed the Alliance in Institutional Strategy and Identity
Integrate alliance objectives into institutional strategies and make them visible across campuses to foster widespread ownership.
3. Involve Stakeholders Broadly
Engage not only university management, but also students, local partners, and external stakeholders for a more resilient and dynamic alliance.
4. Encourage Local Adaptation
Allow each partner university to develop its own local governance model that fits local contexts while aligning with the overall alliance mission.
5. Cultivate a Joint Alliance Spirit
Celebrate shared milestones and encourage personal connections to drive deeper collaboration.
By embracing these principles, European University alliances can move beyond projects to long-term structural, strategic and sustainable cooperation partnerships between the higher education institutions in the European Universities alliances. In this way, we can shape the future of higher education across Europe together. We encourage other alliances to reflect on these lessons learnt — and to share their own experiences — to further strengthen collaboration and impact throughout the European Higher Education Area.
References
European Commission (2025). European Universities Initiative. [Accessed 24th November, 2025]
FOREU4ALL (2025). The community of practice FOREU4ALL. [Accessed 24th November, 2025]
Future4Alliances (2025). Future4Alliances – National and regional support
for European Universities Alliances. [Accessed 24th November, 2025]
U!REKA (2025). We educate the European professionals of tomorrow. [Accessed 14th November, 2025]
Author
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Mona Roman
Research Director, Metropolia University of Applied SciencesDr. Mona Roman holds a position of Research Director at Metropolia UAS in Helsinki, Finland. She acts as a Lead Coordinator of U!REKA European University Alliance.
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