The University of Gdańsk is hosting a meeting of members of the SEA-EU Governing Board, Executive Committee and Technical Working Group - an alliance of six European and coastal universities from Gdańsk, Cadiz, Brest, Kiel, Split and Malta. In Gdańsk, they will summarise the three-year project and set priorities and directions for the next phase of SEA-EU for the next six years.

- 'The heart of the SEA EU will beat for the next few days in Gdańsk. I'm glad that we have the honour to host the authorities and representatives of the SEA EU teams at the University of Gdańsk,' - said the Rector of UG prof. dr hab. Piotr Stepnowski when opening today's session. - 'I believe that in this pre-Christmas atmosphere, which is already present in the city, the session will be fruitful. And Gdańsk itself will sink into your hearts and you will come back here,' - he added.

University of the Seas, SEA EU - is an alliance of six European and coastal universities from Gdańsk, Cadiz, Brest, Kiel, Split and Malta. It was created to realize the vision of an international, multiethnic, multilingual and interdisciplinary European University of the Seas (SEA-EU) with international scientific cooperation, innovation and knowledge transfer.

The main research area of SEA-EU members is the sustainable development of the maritime sector. Hence, research and economic activities, as well as cultural traditions related to the sea through cooperation with the business community, research agencies, authorities, foundations or educational institutions, are a priority and an objective.

- 'The alliance of universities, which is currently meeting in Gdańsk, is in the process of determining further continuation of joint activities,' - said prof. dr hab. Krzysztof Bielawski, Vice-Rector for Innovation and Liaison with Business and the Community UG. - 'We all care about further cooperation, sharing research infrastructure, intensifying the exchange - both scientific and student - and activities towards creating the "University of the Future" in the face of civilisation challenges,' - he added.

Let us recall that for the past three years, universities from six countries have been working on a new model of education and academic exchange, which will increase the competitiveness of European higher education, ensure the mobility of students and staff, and at the same time improve the quality of education and scientific research.

Professor Fidel Echevarria, the general coordinator of SEA-EU from the University of Cadiz, attended the second day of meetings. We asked him to comment on the meetings and discussions at the University of Gdańsk.

- You are starting today another meeting amongst the members of the Governing Board, the Executive Committee and the SEA-EU Technical Working Group, after three years of this maritime university partnership. From this perspective, how do you assess the realisation of the original intentions so far? Have the objectives set at that time been achieved? Have there been any surprises or problems?

- Many of our goals have already been achieved. The universities and SEA-EU delegations are very committed, and we really believe in what we are doing. Of course, the pandemic was a surprise and a problem, especially in terms of mobility at the beginning, but this problem forced us to use our creativity to redesign our measures and activities.

Another problem relates to the different levels of involvement of individual universities. We consist of six different universities, each with a different pace and speed of implementing new things. In fact, we all grew together. Because of the Covid outbreak, we had to change some of our mobility commitments and ended up launching three joint degree courses.

- What are the specific benefits of your university?

- The fact that the six universities share knowledge, learn from each other and develop together is the main purpose of this initiative. The main benefit is therefore to develop together to achieve excellence, creating and building the University of the future.

- Summaries and conclusions prompt us to set the next tasks. How do you see the next years of cooperation in this group? What, in your opinion, will be the most important challenges?

- We expected the project to be extended by six years, but in the communication announced yesterday by the European Commission, it was extended by only four years. We still have a lot to do to improve our cooperation, we are working hard for example on the legal status, we are trying to make the new university have its own legal status. But of course also the implementation of common degrees like bachelor, master and PhD. Within six universities this is not an easy task.

- Thank you for the interview.

Photo: Piotr Wajda