On the 29th of September rectors from 7 European universities in Slovenia, France, Germany, Portugal, Italy, Greece and Lithuania met in Maribor, Slovenia to sign a declaration of the European university alliance ATHENA (eng. Advanced Technology Higher Education Network Alliance – ATHENA).
The main goal of the declaration is to consolidate the forces of partners for research, cooperation with business, providing high-quality international education for teachers, guaranteeing high employment opportunities for graduates.
After the signing, university rectors, representatives, project coordinators had a chance to talk about the future of the ATHENA project. During the meeting, various topics such as further partnership, methodology, individual cooperation on certain projects and scientific areas of research were discussed.
The educational atmosphere in Europe has been changing in recent years. At a meeting in Gothenburg a few years ago, the leaders of the European Union set a new vision for education by 2024 – to encourage universities in the EU to develop long-term strategic partnerships, to develop new standards and models of cooperation. ATHENA seeks to develop new forms of cooperation in academic, research and knowledge and technology activities. This would address the new challenges of lifelong learning.
This objective is being considered by focusing ATHENA’s core activities on education, research and development, as well as strengthening and contributing to the transformation of an inclusive society, research and development in the fields of information technology and electronic engineering. ATHENA will add value to stakeholders and project members – students, academics, researchers, members of the administration, industry, social partners and government.
