The PIONEER Alliance joins the European University Initiative

The European Universities Initiative by the European Commission aims to strengthen the strategic partnerships in higher education across the European Union. Within this initiative, the Commission has awarded the PIONEER Alliance a significant project grant from the Erasmus+ programme on June 28. The PIONEER Alliance was among the fourteen European University Alliances that were selected out of 56 proposals for EU funding in this application round.

The PIONEER Alliance brings together 10 impact-driven universities, over 130,000 students and 17,000 faculty and staff across Europe. The PIONEER Alliance is shaped around our shared expertise in cities and ecosystem co-creation. The members of the Alliance will focus on sustainable development and urban planning issues in the project during 2025-2028. The PIONEER Alliance aims to shape the future of inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable cities providing students and lifelong learners dedicated skills in a European environment with an emphasis on the SDG11 (sustainable cities and communities).

The PIONEER Alliance will bring together researchers, educators, students, innovators, business representatives, city decision-makers and citizens to work on topics related to SDG 11: Questioning urban transitions; Nature in the city; Energy in the city; Vulnerability, inclusion, and health in the city; Mobility; Digital transition; and Sustainable and resilient cities.

“Students are at the centre of everything we do within the PIONEER Alliance. Our aim is to build up future leaders and experts who have the skills and competences to thrive in the 21st century and initiate change that is for the collective good of the entire local community or society at large“, says the PIONEER Alliance Coordinator Sylvie Chevrier from the Université Gustave Eiffel in France. For students and the teaching staff, the internationalisation of curricula will mean more study mobilities, double degrees, hybrid mobility programmes (BIPs), micro-credentials obtained remotely at other universities, cooperation with students hosted on campus for European events (European hackathon), improved language skills, specific preparation for the European job market, etc. Researchers and doctoral students will be able to join the networks being set up within the alliance around the themes of SDG 11 and strengthen international research cooperation. Administrative staff will take part in exchanges of practice with their counterparts in other universities. PIONEER opens up opportunities to give a European dimension to everyone’s activities.

The PIONEER members are: