The European Week of Regions and Cities (EURegionsWeek) is the largest annual event in Brussels dedicated to cohesion policy and organised by the European Commission, together with the European Committee of the Regions.
Under the motto “New Challenges for European Cohesion”, EURegionsWeek welcomed about 17,000 participants from the 10th to 13th of October 2022. During this event, cities and regions emphasised the importance of the local and regional level in reference to good European governance and the implementation of EU cohesion policy.
This year’s themes were : green transition, territorial cohesion, digital transition, youth empowerment.
MOVERIM participated together with i2LATAM in EURegionsWeek2022, with the organisation of a Study Visit and an online workshop – part of the week’s events – with the theme ‘EU-Latin America Collaboration: Catalysing Innovation through University Partnerships’…
i2LATAM is an Erasmus+ project led by Universidad de la Sabana (Colombia) and co-led by Universidade do Porto (Portugal).
i2LATAM focuses on research and development capacity building in young Latin American researchers, through the creation of knowledge-sharing spaces to stimulate the relationship with key regional socio-economic actors, by using successful European models as an example.
As part of the project’s training activities, MOVERIM organised a Study Visit from the 10th to the 13th of October for young researchers from different universities in Latin America: Universidad de la Sabana (Colombia), University of Magdalena (Colombia), University of Caldas (Colombia), University of Lima (Peru), San Pablo Catholic University (Peru), Panamerican University (Mexico), Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (Mexico), National University of Río Negro (Argentina), National University of the South (Argentina) and also, Universidade do Porto (Portugal).
Among the various activities organised during the Study Visit, the young researchers participated in EURegionsWeek2022, a perfect environment to facilitate cooperation if we consider that the European Union remains Latin America’s most important development partner. Participation in this event offered researchers a great opportunity for networking and inspiration for future projects.
Click here to see the highlights of the study visit!
The organisation of the Workshop was crucial in highlighting the importance of international collaboration to encourage green transition, youth empowerment and digital transition. It also emphasised how expanding territorial cohesion beyond European borders is important to stimulate innovation and promote new partnerships between Latin American and European universities.
During the workshop, Alejandra Gonzalez, coordinator of the I2LATAM project, explained how direct initiatives among researchers can change attitudes towards international partnerships. Daniel Samoilovich, director of the multilateral organisation Columbus, showed how EU support can contribute to the realisation of the International Universities Strategy and presented the search conference as a practical tool for cooperation. Two young researchers: Alejandra Acevedo (University of Lima) and Mario Acevedo Alvarado (Panamerican University) presented the first results of their projects and action plans. In addition, other European partners proposed examples of good practice from the EU. Finally, the best ways to further encourage EU-Latin American collaboration were discussed with the audience. Our workshop was an opportunity to identify best practices to promote such collaboration.
Click here to watch the recording of our workshop.
To find out more about the i2LATAM project click here.
