A delegation from the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM), led by the Vice-Rector for Internationalization, Raúl Martín, attended the launch meeting of the COLOURS university alliance, held recently in Paderborn (Germany). The initiative, which links nine universities from nine countries, aims to transform the model of education and research in Europe by accelerating change from regional innovation ecosystems.
The delegation from Castilla-La Mancha, which also included student representatives Juan Alfonso Blanco and Lázaro Ortega, the director of the Language Center, David Carrascosa, and members of the Internationalization team Manuel E. Lucas Borja, Carlos J. Barba, Mónica Ruiz and Marta Vacas, explained their proposals for the strategic development of the alliance.
After a reception at the Paderborn City Hall by the Mayor, Michael Dreier, and a welcome by the Rector, Brigitt Riegraf, the working sessions began with presentations by the institutional representatives of the nine partner universities. In addition, students participated in the panel on expectations, challenges, and the role of the student body in the alliance and helped to set up the student forum as the governing body of COLOURS. In addition, the head of the Language Center, together with his counterpart at the University of Paderborn, spoke about language policy actions within the alliance.
Also, in the space dedicated to the regions, the delegation from Castilla-La Mancha shared promotional materials provided by the municipalities and the Regional Ministry of Economy, Business and Employment. It also offered different food products sponsored by the Regional Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development and the associated partner Incarlopsa, highlighting the main industries operating in the region and promoting the values of Castilla-La Mancha as a tourist destination.
In addition, meetings were held between the work leaders and the Colours Implementation Officers (CIO) and the Coordinator Space Officers (CSO), who discussed the coordination and management of the work packages.
The COLOURS alliance kick-off days were held under the theme Diving into the COLOURS-Spectrum on March 18-19 at the University of Paderborn with 126 representatives from the nine member universities in attendance, along with a wide participation of online participants. Also in attendance were members of the external advisory committee, institutional representatives from the Ukrainian partner university Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University and the mayor of the city of Bitola (North Macedonia).
All the universities expressed their interest in establishing new bilateral and multilateral collaborations with the aim of achieving the overall purpose of the alliance: "the transformation to a model of open, challenge-based education, innovation and research, in close collaboration with our communities at the local and regional level, that will enable us to respond to the great challenges of the future.
In July 2023, the COLOURS (COLlaborative innOvative sUstainable Regional univerSities) university alliance was selected to be one of 50 European university alliances to be funded over the next four years by the European Commission as part of the prestigious 'European Universities Initiative'.