U!REKA CONNECTS by VSB-TUO: Charity, charged and inspiring meeting

The team, led by Igor Ivan, vice-rector for strategy and cooperation, prepared a varied program that combined working meetings within individual project packages, but also a number of possibilities for establishing new and deepening existing cooperation in the field of science or study possibilities of individual universities. Last but not least, the participants also got to know Ostrava itself, either its city district Poruba as part of a guided walk, or in the form of a visit to our two highest dominant, namely the Bolt Tower in Dolní Vítkovice and the tower of the New Town Hall.

The goal of the alliance, which consists not only of higher education institutions, but also of 26 other partners, such as capital or regional cities, is to achieve climate neutrality as well as to contribute to the transformation of cities into smart and sustainable ones. "This was the first ever big visit of all the members of U!REKA to VSB – Technical University of Ostrava, and it was also the first big event since obtaining the funding of our U!REKA SHIFT project. We presented to the guests the parts of our university that have a close connection to the alliance and we also introduced to them the partners of U!REKA in our region, i.e. the statutory city of Ostrava and the Moravian-Silesian Innovation Centre, or representatives from the House of Foreign Cooperation. I am very happy with the way we managed the whole event, the team headed by Irena Havelková worked perfectly, all the service was top-notch and also representatives of faculties and institutes were very actively involved in the whole event, which really connected," explains Igor Ivan, who is pleased that the annual meeting of the alliance also had a charitable overlap. "We did not give to any of the guests a classic conference bag full of promotional items, but we decided to give the whole amount, 2000 EUR, for which we wanted to buy these items and donate to a good cause, namely the Wings Foundation Fund, thank you all very much," he adds. Each of the participants had a story on the other side of their tags, which describes the type of project that is supported by the activities of the fund. The baton in the organization of the annual meeting was taken over from VSB – Technical University of Ostrava by the University of Helsinki.

U!REKA European University is an alliance formed by a regionally diverse grouping of universities across Europe: from Lisbon through Ghent, Amsterdam, Frankfurt to Helsinki. Associated partners include other universities, such as Edinburgh, Bari, Vienna or Odessa, as well as the capitals and regional cities of each participating country or other institutions. Last summer, the alliance succeeded in the prestigious challenge of the European Commission of the European University. Thanks to this success, the participating institutions have opened up an extraordinary space for the systematic development of cooperation across Europe, as well as the fulfilment of ambitious goals in the field of teaching, research, support of students' entrepreneurial competences, and the strengthening of the values of European belonging to each other. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​of the annual meeting.