Welcoming a New Academic Year Across the EURECA-PRO Alliance
- News
From orientation sessions and intercultural meet-ups to sustainability workshops and local campus fairs, each EURECA-PRO partner created opportunities for students to connect, explore, and engage. The events helped new students integrate smoothly into academic and social life while also strengthening the sense of belonging within the broader EURECA-PRO community.
The alliance’s shared mission — to educate and empower future-oriented citizens capable of advancing a resource-efficient and sustainable Europe — was reflected in many of the activities. Several campuses hosted discussions on sustainable practices, guided tours of green research facilities, and interactive sessions introducing students to EURECA-PRO’s transnational study and mobility opportunities.
Sustainable future
During the official opening of the academic year, Prof. Dr. Bernard Vanheusden, Rector of UHasselt and President of the Board of Rectors of EURECA-PRO, delivered an inspiring message to the academic community in his closing speech:
“The theme of this session – ‘Honour the Challenge’ – invited all of us to take action, to assume our responsibility. It carried an optimism that characterised UHasselt and Hogeschool PXL. We were not pessimistic. We were not defeatist. We did not allow ourselves to be thrown off course. My call to you, therefore, was that we must remain vigilant — all of us: academics, staff members, students, policymakers. The freedom of education and research, our autonomy as an academic community, had to be claimed, defended, and upheld every single day.
This meant we had to engage in public debate and clearly state where we, as higher education institutions, drew the line. In this regard, I referred to the statement on academic freedom that VLIR and its Francophone counterpart published in July on behalf of all Belgian universities.
It also meant that we had to harness the critical mass and intellectual strength of our European alliance, EURECA-PRO, to reinforce the European Union as a community of values — and to dare to call each other to account whenever those values were under threat.
And it meant that, as an organisation, we had to take concrete measures — measures that allowed our researchers to carry out their academic mission unhindered. And by unhindered, I meant: free from verbal or written threats, free from online or physical intimidation, free from violence.”
The welcome activities and the inspiring speeches set a positive and motivating tone for the new academic year.
They reinforced the EURECA-PRO alliance’s commitment to fostering collaboration, academic freedom, and a shared European vision. As students, staff, and researchers returned to campus, the message was clear: together, the EURECA-PRO community is ready to embrace challenges, pursue knowledge, and contribute to a sustainable and resilient future.
