Laurea to become a European University together with nine higher education institutions from across Europe

The Laurea University of Applied Sciences (Finland) becomes a European university as part of the European Union's European Universities initiative. The aim of the initiative is to strengthen strategic international partnerships between higher education institutions and to intensify cooperation between them across Europe.

Laurea is a member of the PIONEER Alliance of ten European higher education institutions. In late June 2024, the European Commission has provided the PIONEER partners with financial support (14,4 million euros) under the Erasmus+ programme for the four-year period of 2025-2028 within the European Universities initiative. The PIONEER Alliance was selected as the beneficiary from more than 50 European Higher Education Alliances that applied for funding under the topic 2: support for establishing new deep institutional transnational cooperation. 

"This is a truly significant achievement for Laurea and its partner universities. It strengthens their position and attractiveness as European higher education institutions and, in the long term, increases their societal impact", says Dr Jouni Koski, President of the Laurea University of Applied Sciences.

The European PIONEER Alliance contributes to the sustainable development of future cities 

The PIONEER Alliance focuses on the sustainable development of future cities in line with strategic goal 11 of the Agenda 2030. The aim is to generate new expertise and create regional operating models that support urban development through education, research and innovation activities of European higher education institutions and through their regional ecosystem cooperation.

"Higher education institutions are key actors in the European education, research and innovation environment and in building a responsible future through their regional ecosystems", says Dr Mari Vuolteenaho, Laurea's Vice President for RDI Affairs.

The PIONEER universities are multidisciplinary clusters of excellence that provide companies with a skilled workforce and produce new knowledge for business and society through scientific and applied research. The PIONEER network brings together researchers, educators, students, innovators, business representatives, urban decision-makers and citizens to work on:

• questioning urban transition
• nature in the city
• energy in the city
• vulnerability, inclusion and health in the city
• mobility
• digital transition, and
• sustainable and resilient cities.

European cooperation enables internationalisation and networking for students and staff

Students are at the heart of all PIONEER activities. The aim is to make them future leaders and experts with the knowledge and ability to succeed and to support the sustainable development of their local communities and society as a whole.

"Developing the content and implementation of joint training modules is an essential part of cooperation between the PIONEER universities. By 2028, we will have a pan-European online campus ready. It enables Laurea's students to study at the other PIONEER partner universities and vice versa", says Dr Katri Ojasalo, Vice President for education and teaching at Laurea. 

The growth of students into experts and the professionalisation of Laurea's teaching and RDI staff are promoted through exchange periods to PIONEER universities.

“Every student studying at a higher education institution and staff member working there should have the opportunity to acquire international expertise from around the world. For this reason, student and staff exchanges abroad must become an integral part of studies and professional work. With our PIONEER partners, we will work and make progress towards this important goal", envisions Dr Tiina Päivärinne, Laurea's Director of Human Resources and International Affairs.

The PIONEER Alliance is Laurea's international strategic partnership, which includes higher education institutions representing both research-focused universities and universities of applied sciences:

• Université Gustave Eiffel, France (coordinator). 
• Technische Hochschule Köln (TH Köln), Germany. 
• Università Iuav di Venezia, Italy. 
• Universidad de Huelva (UHU), Spain. 
• Avans Hogeschool, Netherlands.
• Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE), Portugal. 
• Univerzita Tomáše Bati ve Zlíně (UTB), Czechiai. 
• Žilinská univerzita v Žiline (UNIZA), Slovakia. 
• Laurea University of Applied Sciences (Laurea), Finland. 
• Berner Fachhochschule (BFH), Switzerland. 

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