Session Descriptions & Daily programme
November 4-7, 2025 – University of the Aegean, Lesvos, Greece
Monday, November 3 - ERUA members only
Travel, Winter School Opening & Specialised Tracks
The ERUA Summit 2025 officially begins on Tuesday, but Monday serves as a soft, unofficial start for early arrivals and key groups. The Winter School opens with all-day lectures, setting a collaborative and interdisciplinary tone for the week. Lesvos becomes a space for immersive, hands-on learning and experimentation.
Alongside the Winter School, parallel specialist workshops take place, highlighting ERUA’s academic depth:
- Workshop of the Group of Experts on the ERUA Joint MA on Forced Migration (all day)
- Beyond Humanism cluster seminar dedicated to Early Career Researchers (all day)
- ‘Boosting co-creation in ERUA’s Student Engagement – Visions, challenges and ways forward’
- Other specialised meetings are under development
Though primarily preparatory, Monday embodies the Summit theme: navigating the edges of education through joint inquiry, mutual respect, and strategic dialogue. Participants arrive ready to shape the week, reflecting ERUA’s commitment to critical engagement and co-creation across campuses.
Tuesday, November 4 - ERUA members only
Internal Strategic Focus
The formal ERUA Summit 2025 launch begins with a morning plenary gathering students, academics, and management from across the alliance. This session reflects on ERUA’s journey and sets the agenda for the coming days, serving as a mid-term moment to evaluate progress, realign goals, and renew the student-centred commitment.
After the plenary, parallel meetings of ERUA’s eight Work Packages focus on reviewing deliverables, exploring synergies, and coordinating alliance-wide actions. Students actively participate as co-authors of their education.
Afternoon Workshops include:
- “Agents of Change” – A student-led series fostering innovation through speed networking and story exchanges, connecting Winter School participants and peers.
- Continued workshop for the Group of Experts on ERUA Joint MA on Forced Migration
- Annual Networking Fair for students: Announcement of the 3 joint masters’ programmes
- Other specialised meetings are under development
Wednesday, November 5 - ERUA members only
Strategic Reflections & Towards the Future
The day begins with parallel meetings of student boards, vice rectors, management and communication to discuss ERUA’s current accomplishments. These are open discussions aimed at aligning internal dynamics with external ambitions.
A reflective plenary follows, bringing together students, academics and administrators to assess progress and envision ERUA’s future, inviting bold and inclusive thinking.
In the afternoon, strategic thematic sessions dive deeper into core alliance challenges. The “Agents of Change” student initiative continues with presentations, feedback sessions, and cross-boundary collaboration, shaping governance and strategy through student-led innovation.
Thursday, November 6 - ERUA members & Open to the Public
The public opening plenary embodies ERUA’s vision of “Navigating the Edges.” Held on Lesvos, a symbolic edge of Europe, this session gathers students, rectors, ministers, scholars, and civic leaders to rethink higher education from the margins. It champions inclusive, student-centred reform, interdisciplinary innovation, and social justice.
Highlights include:
Morning Sessions:
Student-Centred & Reformist Education
- Morning Plenary: Keynotes reflecting on reformist, student-centred education.
- Late Morning: ERUA presidency handover and rectors’ roundtable reinforce shared commitment to collaboration and governance.
- ERUA Awards & Announcements: (e.g. Joint Master Degrees, Social Entrepreneurship Course, Annual Networking Fair for Alumni, Ideathons & Hackathons winners, Blue Commission Manifesto, ERUA-iD, ERUA Clusters and other student achievements).
- Invited local high schools participate alongside students and Winter School attendees.
Afternoon Sessions:
Alliance for Skills, Competitiveness & Democracy
- Innovative Education & Digitalisation
Examines how digital transformation and pedagogical innovation can create inclusive, future-ready universities. Focuses on micro-credentials, digital reforms, and empowerment of early-career researchers, emphasizing co-designed solutions aligned with democratic values. - Democracy, Social Change & Local Communities
Explores universities as engines for democratic renewal and civic transformation, addressing migration, social entrepreneurship, and intercultural engagement. Highlights community-rooted policies fostering critical citizenship and resilience. - Engaged, Empowered, Impactful: Student Participation in Re-shaping Higher Education
Showcases students as co-creators of university governance, teaching, and strategy. Moves from symbolic to meaningful agency, highlighting innovation through student leadership and peer exchange.
Friday, November 7 - ERUA members & Open to the Public
Sustainable Futures & Arts
Morning Sessions:
- Universities & Sustainable Communities
Focuses on embedding sustainability into university missions through climate action, regional resilience, and Sustainable Development Goals. Showcases alliances between universities & local communities discussing how university excellence on SDGs can be integrated into regional sustainable initiatives. - Arts, Edges & CommunitiesHighlights ERUA’s strengths in arts, humanities, and culture as vital for educational transformation and community engagement. Explores artistic and cultural networking as a dialogue tool between universities and society, reaffirming imagination’s role in shaping inclusive futures.
Students and Winter School participants engage actively throughout.
Farewell Lunch
Excursions: We intend to organize two excursions (Monday and Saturday) with the same tour schedule. The final decision and detailed itinerary will be shaped based on participant interest expressed in registrations.
Summit 2025 Registration
