Mobility, communication, and inner work organisation of the SEA-EU alliance for the next four years were discussed by the representatives of nine partner universities. The first day of the SEA-EU Governing Week in Gdańsk concluded with the SEA-EU Technical Working Group and the reSEArch-EU Technical Working Group meetings. The congress of over 120 representatives of European universities takes place from the 27th to the 30th of June of the current year.

During the meeting of the Technical Working Group supporting the actions of the essential organs of the alliance (Executive Committee and Governing Board), the first speaker was Professor Fidel Echevarría from the University of Cádiz. The SEA-EU coordinator talked about the European Committee's request to prepare the description of the unique actions within the European University project not financed through Erasmus+ initiatives.

Next, the representatives of each university presented their teams and pointed out the crucial aspects of communication and work organisation in SEA-EU 2.0. The chairwoman of the meeting  Irene de Andrés from the University of Cádiz spoke about the change in the system of minutes (brief text summaries from the sittings). Others considered the issues of fluent communication, website, or regular meetings the most vital. 

- Our team’s role is to support the work packages coordinators and the alliance coordinators, but we should support each other as well - said Marlena Rutkowska-Myzyk, the SEA-EU project manager at the University of Gdańsk. - We may sometimes forget how important the exchange of good practices or sharing good experiences are. I would like our group to be an example of well-organised work for the whole SEA-EU.

The leading subject of the SEA-EU Technical Working Group’s meeting was mobility. The increase in general mobility by 50% is the goal for the next four years assigned to the project entering its second phase by the European Committee. The participants of the deliberations discussed business trips and online meetings organisation within programmes such as Staff Week, Blended Intensive Programmes, or International Weeks. Meeting this challenge and monitoring all activities and events within SEA-EU were talked about by Juan Ramon Real from the University of Cádiz.

The SEA-EU Technical Working Group members also discussed which pieces of information should be forwarded to the Executive Committee. Maria Grima Calleja from the University of Malta noticed it is worth considering which subjects should be forwarded to the Executive Committee, which to the Governing Board, and which to the SEA-EU Vice-Rectors.

At the end of the meeting, Irene de Andrés talked about the process of designing the SEA-EU official website, which is expected to start operating by the autumn of 2023.

 ReSEArch-EU Technical Working Group

In the same time, the reSEArch-EU Technical Working Group meeting took place. It was focused on upcoming projects and the initiative’s budget. 

We talked about the milestones and other actions we need to deliver in June, such as our platform, thanks to which scientists are not only able to gain qualifications, but also contact the investors, or the pilot actions that are meant to provide knowledge to our stakeholders’, says the reSEArch-EU Technical Working Group coordinator  Laura Martín from the University of Cádiz. ‘We also discussed the next milestones and other actions we will need to take in the future. Most of them regard the data management policy of the entire alliance.’

On the second day of the Governing Week, the SEA-EU Student Council and the Cities and Harbours Committees will proceed with the deliberations.

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