Faces of Our CommUNAty: “Una.Futura proves that we can bring education and research much closer together.”

It’s been a fascinating journey. When I started, Una.Futura was really just a vision on paper.

I remember several meetings where even the Board of Directors were questioning whether we were being too ambitious with the project. But now, when I look at what we’ve achieved, it’s fascinating. At the end of Una.Futura, we can say that 40 joint innovative formats have been developed by the project teams and academics involved. Hundreds, even thousands, of students, learners, and researchers are benefitting from them.

Personally, I feel really fortunate to work with the Senior Project Leads, academics, Self-Steering Committee Chairs, and professional services staff across the alliance. I’ve seen how much effort they’ve put into making all of this happen.

I think we really should be proud of ourselves. We’ve achieved a lot, and all of this has been possible thanks to the motivated and enthusiastic people who have been involved from the very beginning.

Una.Futura proves that we can bring education and research much closer together, even in a project that cannot directly fund research. This was one of the biggest obstacles, as Una.Futura is an Erasmus+ project. We could motivate academics and researchers and think of creative ways to support research, but we could not fund the research itself.

I think we found a very good way to address this, thanks to the academics and everyone in the project teams who developed these activities. They were able to create a very supportive environment in which we could introduce activities that integrated education and research.

This integration happens on several levels and through different activities. For example, we were able to bring students and researchers together, allowing students to learn directly from researchers and incorporate this experience into their education.

One successful format is the MIRI [Una Europa Master's International Research Internships in Sustainability] platform, which does exactly this: brings students and researchers together through research internships. Another example is challenge-based learning, bringing students, researchers, academics and even people from industry around the same table for several days and giving them real-world challenges to work on.

For students this meant they were not just engaging with theoretical questions and concepts; they were actually taking on the role of researchers and working on real research topics.

Established academics also benefitted from this. Through the joint programmes, Interdisciplinary Hubs [Una Europa’s emerging virtual interinstitutional centres for the development of interdisciplinary research, education and outreach] and the different academics they came into contact with, they were able to broaden their perspectives and research networks. In particular, the Interdisciplinary Hubs brought together academics from different fields who might not otherwise have worked with one another. This also helped enrich their research areas, so the benefits went both ways.

And of course, the main focus I have to highlight here is on early-career researchers. This is where I really see the integration of education and research happening. When you give PhD candidates and early-career researchers opportunities to teach, work with their mentors and develop ideas for their own research topics, that is one of the best ways to bring education and research together. Our commitment to early-career researchers was especially evident in our Summer Schools: we organised 17 summer schools and PhD workshops, involving hundreds of early-career researchers.

The main idea is that we want to continue the story we shared at the 1Europe closing event, where the central theme was ‘voyage’. We wanted to build on this, just as Una.Futura built on the foundations laid by the 1Europe project.

The idea of bridges came about when we were thinking about the voyage and the boats navigating their way forward. We saw universities as little islands, but through the alliance and the projects we have built together, we have been creating bridges that connect these islands. We have built bridges between partner institutions, communities, students, researchers, and professional services staff.

We have created new bridges, but we have also strengthened existing ones, making their foundations even stronger. Today, hundreds and even thousands of people are crossing these bridges and creating their own pathways.

Of course, not every bridge is perfect, and every bridge needs to be maintained. That is also part of the message: we are continuing this journey, and we all have a role to play in taking care of these bridges. Together, we are creating a beautiful ecosystem that everyone in the alliance can benefit from.

As for the closing event itself, people can look forward to hearing many testimonials and personal stories. We wanted to ensure that the event would not just be about numbers, reports, or a list of achievements. Instead, we really wanted to put the spotlight on the people who have been involved in the alliance, because without them, none of this would have been possible.

One of the biggest things I’ve learned is that we work with incredibly talented and motivated people across the alliance, and they don’t necessarily need more management. What they need is the right environment. Of course, they need to have a clear understanding of what we’re trying to achieve and what our goals are, but they also need the right support and, as much as possible, the freedom to do what they do best.

The key lesson I’ll take with me into Una.Via is to keep things as simple as possible: have a clear goal, but keep the procedures simple. I believe that the more space people have to develop their ideas, the better the results we can achieve.

Of course, we still need structures, deadlines, and procedures, but these should support people and their work, rather than become obstacles. For me, it’s all about creating the right conditions for the alliance to flourish and for people to succeed.