In the Presence of Maria Gabriel and Minister Nikolay Denkov the Contract for the ENGAGE.EU Extension Was Signed at the UNWE

The UNWE hosted the most significant event in the history of the European university network ENGAGE.EU so far - the expansion of the consortium with two more economic universities. At an official ceremony in Maxima Aula of UNWE the nine Rectors of the partner universities signed the contract for the ENGAGE.EU extension. The Universitat Ramon Llull /Barcelona, Spain/ and Hanken School of Economics /Helsinki, Finland/ joined the existing partners in the network of European economic universities - University of Mannheim /Mannheim, Germany/, UNWE /Sofia, Bulgaria/, LUISS University /Rome, Italy/, NHH Norwegian School of Economics /Bergen, Norway/, Tilburg University /Tilburg, Netherlands/, Université Toulouse 1 Capitole /Toulouse, France/, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business /Vienna, Austria/.

The official guests for the event were the European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Maria Gabriel and the Minister of Education and Science Acad. Nikolay Denkov.

The signing ceremony was opened by the Vice-Rector for Research and International Affairs Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mihail Musov who is also Coordinator for the ENGAGE.EU project: “You are all aware that today we face a number of societal, environmental, health challenges. Without universities we cannot adequately address these challenges, so the society needs the universities more than ever. Universities also face many challenges. In a long term perspective finding sustainable solutions lies in supporting this unique collaboration between the top universities - the ENGAGE.EU Alliance. Today we celebrate its expansion which is the way to ensure leadership in Europe and in the world in the future".

The Rector of the UNWE Prof. Dimitar Dimitrov welcomed the participants in the event and outlined his contentment with the presence of the European Commissioner Maria Gabriel at the event: "We all are very well aware that such kind of direct contacts are useful for all of us – for developing appropriate policy choices and for further roll-out of the European University Initiative. Societal challenges cannot be solved without universities, but the opposite also holds true. The challenges for the universities cannot be solved without the strong support of the Commission and the member states", said the Rector.

Prof. Thomas Puhl, Rector of the coordinating university - University of Mannheim, presented ENGAGE.EU and highlighted: "We call ourselves ENGAGE.EU - a European university committed to the change of society. We have the knowledge but we know that there are challenges ahead us, we think about migration, the ageing population, the distribution of economic development, and now we have to think about energy, about diplomacy, about security. Obviously there are new challenges ahead of us and I am very proud that we, now seven universities in the consortium, will become nine and we will combine our efforts to address and respond to these issues that are raised by the current situation and conjuncture."

"It's an honour to be here, thank you for inviting me. As a minister I understand that we have three very important roles. Firstly, we have to support the five Bulgarian universities that are members of various associations and the other two that are associate members. It is not easy, we have discussed the challenges faced by the countries and the differences between them, and that we need to show support so that our five universities can feel comfortable", said the Minister of Education and Science Acad. Nikolay Denkov and added: "Our second role is to work jointly with the Commissioner Maria Gabriel, in particular, to build the European Research Community. We are full members of this community and we will contribute to building our future together because the Bulgarian experience is different from the experience in Germany, in the Netherlands and in other countries, and I promise you that we will be very active in this. Our third role is also very important and it is to implement the best practices that have been developed also in other countries by developing and implementing them in Bulgaria", said Minister Denkov.

In the frameworks of the event Maria Gabriel delivered a lecture on the Universities Role in Green and Digital Transition.

"Today we will welcome two universities to ENGAGE.EU. We would like to say a warm "Welcome" to you. It is not just a project. With ENGAGE.EU you show that you make an alliance of higher education with common objectives for the benefit of all people who are trained. I am glad to be among you at a time when two more universities will join the consortium, said Maria Gabriel, pointing out: "I know that your creativity and expertise will add value to our long-term vision. You can count on the European Commission for support, on my strong support. I appreciate your common commitment. As your campus grows so do the opportunities for mobility. The real winners of ENGAGE.EU are the students and researchers. You will contribute to the higher education to become stronger and more competitive. Together you will be able to bring more value to our society. Such added value is undoubtedly the leading role of higher education as a sector in the green and digital transition. I know that the plans of ENGAGE.EU include to develop precisely these themes through different programmes that are interdisciplinary both in Bachelor`s and Master`s degree”, emphasized Maria Gabriel.

European Universities is the European Commission's most important and largest initiative to transform higher education, science and innovation in Europe. Its objective is to create an unprecedented level of close cooperation between the higher education institutions in Europe. ENGAGE.EU is our university of the future - one of 41 currently existing European universities. The UNWE is the creator of ENGAGE.EU jointly with six other universities from Europe.