The ENLIGHT alliance has been operational for three years
On Wednesday, 27 September 2023, the annual meeting of the ENLIGHT European superuniversity project took place. Comenius University is a part the project and so CU Rector and the ENLIGHT Office evaluated the three years of the alliance and its strategic role in the functioning of the university.
At the meeting, CU Rector Marek Števček and vice-rector for international relations Jozef Tancer evaluated the achievements of the ENLIGHT European university project, reviewed its past challenges and looked into its future.
The aim of the European university project is to expand study opportunities, share know-how, foster networking, internationalise and connect research, science and education. The covid pandemic started in the same year that ENLIGHT was launched, putting a brake on student mobility which is one of the main advantages of the superuniversity. When pandemic restrictions were relaxed, the number of students who took the opportunity to travel via ENLIGHT almost doubled, when comparing current year data with past years. People with disabilities also received an alternative way of learning abroad through online mobility. So far, 39 educational activities have been developed, including summer and winter schools, BIP (hybrid courses) and living labs with external partners, such as the Bratislava municipality or ESET. New teaching methods are being implemented, e.g. challenge-based teaching in which students themselves choose the challenge they want to work on.
The project also includes a Student Network that has been building links among student senates of the participating universities over three years now. Students can participate in the meetings of the alliance and develop a truly international student community across ten prestigious European universities. „We are involved in making important decisions and are no longer left on the sidelines,“ concludes Student Network member Damián Samuel Ovečka, a student of the Faculty of Arts at Comenius University.
,,We are pleased that Comenius University is a member of an elite club of ten European universities, enabling us to participate in higher education transformation,“ said the head of CU’s ENLIGHT Office Viktor Svetský at the meeting.
The ENLIGHT Alliance offers numerous opportunities to connect for students, teachers, academics and researchers through joint courses, short-term and semester-long mobilities, trainings and various conferences focused on five areas: health and well-being, digital revolution and impacts of digitization, climate action, energy transition and circular economy, and equity. In its current form it connects ten European universities: University of Ghent in Belgium, University of Bordeaux in France, University of the Basque Country in Spain, University of Galway in Ireland, University of Göttingen in Germany, University of Groningen in the Netherlands, University of Tartu in Estonia, University of Uppsala in Sweden and as of this year, the Swiss University of Bern.