As our readers already know, the U!REKA project is divided into 7 work packages. You are part of the team in charge of the work package 2. How did you get it? What exactly is WP2 in charge of?
I got into the U!REKA SHIFT project thanks to the address of Prof. Igor Ivan in April 2024. Before that, I was contacted by the institutional coordinator of the project, Tereza Benešová, who was in charge of the package. She said that the WP2 agenda is very broad and offered me the possibility of involvement, which I agreed with. After about one month of working in the project, I fully understood and understood the breadth of the whole work package, which is aimed at setting up the correct governance of the U!REKA alliance and its structures. The WP2 team is also working on defining the core values that a European university should stand for, and we share these values with the participating institutions throughout the alliance.
What is your role in WP2?
I am a representative of VŠB – Technical University of Ostrava. A small disadvantage is that our university does not directly lead this package, but my main task is to actively participate in all activities and tasks that WP2 includes, to monitor the overall situation in the team and to pass on information to the home university level. I also help in the creation of key documents related to, for example, values or good governance.
We mentioned the U!REKA values. What do they mean to you?
Personally, if I disregard the formal documents that define our alliance values and describe them in detail, I consider the first set of values called INCLUSION to be important because it means transparency and support for all stakeholder groups at our universities – students, educators and other staff. It is important that faculties are open and provide equal access for all. As for the second set of values called CO-CREATION, for a while I did not understand what the head of our work package actually meant. It was only later that I realized that it was about participating in the creation of values, about involving people in the process of creating a value environment. We want to win the audience, convince them of our vision and engage them in a joint effort. The third set of values known as BOLDNESS means courage – we do not want to stand still, we want to be bold, do things in an innovative way and not be afraid to open up topics that can be complicated, and not only in our alliance.
VŠB – Technical University of Ostrava has its own values. Do we find any similarities between the values of U!REKA and those of VŠB-TUO?
We certainly do. I think that the values of U!REKA can be an inspiration not only for our university. INCLUSION is reflected in a number of documents and activities at VŠB-TUO. Students have their rights secured, we have a student ombudsman, psychologists and the like. In this respect, the environment at our university is transparent and we fulfil this value almost perfectly. As for CO-CREATION, I see some room for improvement. At our university, for example, we have the Studentopolis program, which allows students to actively participate in improving the environment of the university through projects and ideas, which is very positive. Nevertheless, I feel that a certain part of students are not all that interested in what is happening at the university, although there are various possibilities to influence life at the university, for example through representatives of student chambers of academic boards. As far as the academics and staff of the university are concerned, there is a lack of a unified and transparent system reinforcing greater motivation to engage in various activities, be it pedagogy, science, research or international cooperation. This topic is often mentioned, for example, in the Strategic Plan of VŠB-TUO as well as in the strategic documents of individual faculties, but I lack more specific calls for active involvement or evaluation of the academic environment in which we live.
What about BOLDNESS?
This is a value which, in my opinion, hides something individual for every educator, academic worker or employee of the university. This concept has to do with the motivation system, overcoming obstacles, finding smart and innovative solutions or breaking down various stereotypes in faculties. However, sometimes the courage to adopt new solutions is lacking, so it is important to define this value.
How does U!REKA intend to work with values in the future?
This question will probably be better answered by the leaders of the project structures. I believe that we are creating a platform for the identification of values and their acceptance. The emphasis is on embedding values such as INCLUSION, CO-CREATION and BOLDNESS in internal documents, strategic intentions and long-term plans of the partner universities. We also plan to develop in this spirit the sustainability of the above values, which is crucial for the project. Sharing the identified values is the way and I believe it will be possible to maintain it in the long term.
You are an expert on European integration. What will the U!REKA VŠB project bring to the Technical University of Ostrava?
U!REKA Shift is an example of a project that has the potential to generate transformation processes, and I believe that the benefits of implementing the project will be several. Firstly, we are part of the new Alliance university cooperation within the European Union, creating common procedures and approaches, and in the future perhaps joint study programmes. So we will not fall behind compared to the foreign universities of the European area. Another benefit is the possibility to establish new forms of cooperation - both individual and consortium. U!REKA organises interesting events, we share information and a whole range of experiences. The Alliance also strengthens the mobility of our students, not only within the Erasmus+ programme, but also foreign professional traineeships. At the same time, we will encourage cooperation in short-term exchange programmes such as BIP or COIL, which will be easier to access.
What is the difference between the Erasmus Plus programme and the European universities?
Erasmus+ is an example of an EU programme directly managed by the European Union, it has its principles and a specific group of beneficiaries who have the chance to cooperate. It creates the conditions for mobility and cooperation of universities, mainly through bilateral contracts. In contrast, consortia within the European universities allow for multilateral sharing of experience, knowledge and skills, but also of values.
The U!REKA SHIFT project will end in 2027. Where do you see the Alliance in two years?
This is a difficult question. I believe that the project will be successfully implemented in 2027 in terms of objectives and key performance indicators. I hope that cooperation with partners will continue and the project will have a long-term and visible impact. We should have joint study programmes, we will cooperate in the field of science and research and there will be other joint projects.
However, the Erasmus+ programme will change after 2027.
Yes, the European Union institutions are planning significant changes within the 2028+ programming period, especially in the area of the new financial perspective. The conditions for cooperation and funding will change and it is obvious that some activities and interventions will have less financial support. However, I believe that the U!REKA alliance will create structures and platforms that will provide a solid basis for continued cooperation.
Most of the universities in the alliance are universities of applied sciences, while we are a technical university. Do we have something to offer?
We certainly do. Although the U!REKA consortium is structured and there are some differences between the focus of individual institutions, it is these differences that make the alliance unique. I see a lot of scope for cooperation and mutual enrichment in the form of building new competences, knowledge, but also experience.