Building a ‘university of the future’: A reflection paper on governance in European Universities alliances

From overcoming legislative hurdles to securing sustained funding, European Universities alliances face many common challenges. But how they experience these challenges is as diverse as Europe itself.

Therefore, Una Europa’s governance model does not aim to present a static model that can be replicated by fellow alliances. Rather, it proposes three fundamental governance principles that can be adapted by other alliances to their specific contexts:

• Adaptability: Structures evolve in response to emerging needs, enabling efficient decision-making.
• Transparency: Governance forums integrate partner universities’ strategies and enable cocreation with a shared vision.
• Responsivity: Governance deliberations are able to respond to pressing contemporary challenges by drawing on the wealth of expertise of partner universities, from both internal and external stakeholders and stakeholder groups.