More than 160 participants representing university members of the UNIMED network and institutional partners coming from Albania, Algeria, Cyprus, France, Germany, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey and Yemen gathered in Istanbul, last October 23-24, for the UNIMED General Assembly 2024 hosted by the Istanbul Aydin University.
“Our greatest challenge—and perhaps our most profound responsibility—is to safeguard the educational process, ensuring that all students, regardless of their geographic location or circumstances, have access to quality education. This mission demands that we collectively forge ahead, adapting our systems with firm determination: to leave no one behind” stated Dr. Kherieh Rassas, UNIMED President and Vice President for International and External Affairs at An Najah National University (ANNU) in her opening.
The two days of Assembly focused on the role and responsibilities of the Higher Education Institutions in times of crises. “We can’t just watch what is happening. Education has a responsibility” added Prof. Hmaid Ben Aziza, UNIMED Secretary General and Former Rector of the University of Tunis.
Specific initiatives were presented and discussed, such as the TESI – Technical Education Support for Higher Education Students Initiative launched last February by An Najah National University and UNIMED, to enable students in Gaza to continue their university education as visiting students and that has the potential to become a model for future educational initiatives in crisis-torn regions; and the project SAFE – Supporting at risk-researchers with fellowships in Europe which started in September 2024 and will provide up to 60 fellowships to non-EU at-risk researchers from all over the world for a research stay at a European higher education and research institution.
As Higher Education developments are at the core of the UNIMED Assemblies over the years, a session was dedicated to university governance. Case-studies from Turkey, Tunisia, Algeria and Libya were presented to the audience, aiming to stimulate a reflection on how higher education institutions shall continue focusing on strategic planning, quality assurance, internationalisation, research and self-evaluation to reach their full potential and fulfil their crucial role in modern societies.
University representatives and institutional partners also discussed the enlargement of the cooperation with African universities and of the role that UNIMED could play in this scenario, by bridging Europe and Sub Saharan African through the Maghreb universities.
“The students: they share the energy of being together”. The university is the platform not only to respond to the nowadays emerging crises and to tackle multiple challenges, but it has also the duty of being a space where all voices are expressed and listened to. And when we work for better Higher Education systems in the region, we must not forget the students, as Mr. Joan Borrell Mayeur, Deputy Secretary General at the Union for the Mediterranean, highlighted in his keynote speech.
For the first time, students from the Mediterranean Student Summit participated in the UNIMED General Assembly to share their experience and present some of the key recommendations that emerged from the 3° Edition of the Summit held in September 2024 at the University of Palermo, Italy. The students in this edition highlighted in a clear way the need to work on gender equality in all its dimensions, mostly in the student engagement and representative life where young women suffer from lack of consideration and recognition. Students also proposed the creation of a UNIMED Students Council as a permanent forum for students’ voices within the network.
The students’ participation and contribution to these two days was also well represented by the 24 student teams from 13 countries coming from the UNIMED University members who took part in the Start Cup Competition, held on October 22nd, 2024 at Istanbul Aydin University. Two Libyan female students from the University of Misurata, who were the winning team of the 5th edition of the Start Cup Competition, took the stage of the UNIMED General Assembly, to introduce their entrepreneurial idea winner of this edition. The talent shown and the great engagement of the students were one of the pivotal elements of this Assembly.
Among the subjects of interest for the participating Universities there were as well discussions on Universities rankings: the reflection around this topic among the university members reinforced the main idea that ranking should seen more as a tool to improve university management, performance and internationalization of higher education, rather than a mere competition. For more insights on the topic, here the recording of THE and UNIMED conversation on the relevance of rankings for the institutional mission of HEIs (September 4th, 2024).
The topics of Micro-credentials and the issue of career guidance in higher education were other two interesting topics tackled in two parallel sessions. In particular, the session on career guidance system reviews, jointly organised by UNIMED with the European Training Foundation (ETF) in the framework of the UNIMED cooperation with ETF, aimed to present the main findings and key recommendations arisen by UNIMED university members in Lebanon, Tunisia and Jordan, three of the MENA piloting countries that have participated in this initiative. The session provided evidence on the importance of career guidance review to build country system review capacity, as well as to ensure a sustainable network of researchers providing research on lifelong guidance to inform policy making at national and regional level. Ultimately, the workshop traced possible future cooperation opportunities to enlarge the scope of the career guidance review to further other regions of the UNIMED network.
Besides, on the topics of Climate Change, during the Assembly were presented the preliminary results of the survey launched to assess the existing curricula on climate and environmental change within the UNIMED associated Universities, and a fruitful discussion emerged around possible joint initiatives and actions to foster the role of academia in favour of the sustainable development of the Region.
The discussions and presentations were possible thanks to the contributions and active participation of the Universities representatives and experts on the subjects.
A session dedicated to the European programmes and international cooperation saw the online contribution of European Commission officers and of the Director-General for Financial Cooperation and Project Implementation of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In the end the announcement of the next UNIMED General Assembly that will be held in Italy hosted by the University of Calabria.
“We should maintain the optimism of the will, rather than pessimism of the reason. The collaboration of the Higher Education Institutions and all the stakeholders engaged in the sector is a fundamental aspect and a beacon of hope in the region” concluded UNIMED Director, Marcello Scalisi.
PHOTO GALLERY
RESOURCES
AGENDA of the UNIMED General Assembly
For the session about the Future and Challenges of Higher Education, presentation is available here
For the session about Education in Emergencies, presentations are available here below:
For the session Showcase of the UNIMED projects and activities, presentation is available here
For the session European programmes and international cooperation, presentations are available here below:
- The Future of Erasmus+ Programme
- Research and Innovation Cooperation in the Mediterranean region
- TR-EU Financial Cooperation
For the session University Governance in the Mediterranean region. Examples from UNIMED, presentations are available here below:
For the session Rankings, presentation is available here
For the session Empowering the Future Workforce: The Rise of Micro-Credentials in Higher Education, presentations are available here below:
For the session Career guidance and development support system review: findings and future perspectives from MENA region, presentations are available here below:
For the session UNIMED Initiative on Climate Change, presentation is available here
