PPA Staff Attend EMERGE Staff Week in Norway
Hosted by the University of Inland Norway from 5-9 October, the EMERGE Intra-Alliance Staff Week brought together staff and students from across the alliance. As members of the UL delegation, Dr Frank Haege and Dr Scott Fitzsimmons participated in Joint Degree Task Force workshops focused on developing the EMERGE Joint Degree Framework, engaging with the Quality Assurance Team on aspects of joint degree development, and presenting proposed joint degree programmes to the Student Advisory Board for discussion in a World Café format.
The week served as a major collaborative forum for the alliance, bringing together representatives from nine EMERGE working groups to advance governance, quality assurance, communications, digital infrastructure, strategic planning, student engagement, and joint degree development. Activities were held across several University of Inland Norway campuses, including Lillehammer, Hamar, Elverum and Evenstad, with participants working together on key priorities that will shape the future development of the alliance. A highlight of the programme was a visit to the Evenstad campus, where delegates learned about sustainability-focused research and toured its zero-emissions building.
EMERGE (Empowering the Margins of Europe through Regional and Global Engagement) is a European University Alliance comprising nine universities across eight European countries and coordinated by the University of Limerick. Co-funded through the Erasmus+ European Universities Initiative, the alliance seeks to strengthen cooperation in education, research, and societal engagement, while expanding opportunities for student and staff mobility, developing joint degrees, and creating shared academic and digital infrastructure. A central aim of EMERGE is to support regions and communities on the geographic, social and economic margins of Europe and place them at the heart of European collaboration and innovation.
The Staff Week provided an important opportunity to advance these ambitions, strengthen relationships among partner institutions, and contribute to the development of future educational opportunities for EMERGE students across Europe.
