Kick-off meetings of the 2nd operational phase of CIVIS

CIVIS is one of the European Universities that continue to operate successfully and has also secured new funding from the European Commission for an additional four years. Within this context, the CIVIS (2nd operational phase) kick-off meetings took place this past week (from 8 to 10 November 2022) in Aix-en-Provence, France. Aix-Marseille University organized the works attended by Rectors, Vice-Rectors, and representatives of the member Universities at the various bodies and task forces of CIVIS. The Vice-Rector for Academic and Student Affairs and Head of the CIVIS Project for NKUA, Professor Dimitris Karadimas, led the Greek delegation, which also included: Ms Irini Apostolou, Associate Professor at the Department of French Language and Literature and CIVIS Work Package 9 (on education) leader; Ms Aikaterini Stavrianea, Assistant Professor at the Department of Communication and Media Studies and Work Package 13 (on communication) co-leader; Ms Theodora Antonopoulou, Professor and Chair at the Department of Philology, co-chair, and current chair 1 of CIVIS Hub 2: Society, Culture, Heritage; Ms Athina Dimopoulou, Associate Professor at the School of Law and Work Package 6 (on mobility) leader during the first operational phase of CIVIS; and Mr Ilias Antoniou, Institutional Coordinator of CIVIS at NKUA.

The CIVIS Steering Committee met on the 9^th of November 2022, while the Board of Rectors of the alliance’s 11 member Universities met the next day. In parallel, during all three days (8, 9, and 10 November), there were many task force meetings, discussions on specific organizational issues, presentations about the structure and function of the new units of CIVIS 2, and meetings with the strategic partners of the alliance, i.e., the six African Universities, namely Makerere University, Eduardo Mondlane University, Hassan II University of Casablanca, the University of Sfax, Cheikh Anta Diop University, and the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

NKUA was represented on the Board of Rectors by the Vice-Rector for Academic and Student Affairs, Professor Dimitris Karadimas. Also present at the meeting were Ms Irini Apostolou, and Mr Ilias Antoniou. During the meeting, there was a presentation of the European Union’s evaluation report of the CIVIS application, which highlighted the alliance’s strengths and listed recommendations to improve its operation. The member Universities presented the priorities that each one has set or intends to do so in the forthcoming period (NKUA’s top priority is the promotion of joint Postgraduate and Undergraduate Programmes, given that the University is coordinating the corresponding Work Package). Other topics discussed included the progress of RIS4CIVIS and its future incorporation into CIVIS 2, as well as the initiatives undertaken by the alliance to support Ukrainian students and academics. The member Universities decided positively on the continuation of these initiatives. Some member Universities, including NKUA, proposed an investigation of the possibilities, the criteria, and the problems towards the European Degree (this is the EU call for proposals entitled European Degree Label Application). Finally, the member Universities reopened the discussion about the legal status of CIVIS but have not decided anything on this matter yet.

The Board of Rectors also had a joint meeting with the representatives of the partnering African Universities. That reaffirmed all parties’ firm determination and desire to support this collaboration at the educational and research levels for the benefit of all participants. Thus, the CIVIS 2.0 kick-off meetings came to an optimistic and celebratory close.

Photo credits: Francois Heinderycks