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Three years after the kick-off of the European University on Responsible Consumption and Production (EURECA-PRO) in 2020, the university alliance has now secured European Commission (EC) funding for the second project phase from 2023 to 2027. The alliance will continue making headway towards becoming the centre of excellence in Europe for education and research on responsible consumption and production, as well as moving towards the long-term goal of creating a virtual and integrated European University campus until 2040.

The Technical University of Crete (TUC) has been a founding member and an active partner of the EURECA-PRO alliance since the very beginning, having a leading role in Innovation, as well as in the transformation of teaching and research in the Digital World.

EURECA-PRO is an alliance uniting nine universities from Austria, Germany, Greece, Poland, Belgium, France, Spain and Romania, including technical and comprehensive, research-led universities. All share a long-standing history of cooperation and together they cover a wide array of interdisciplinary topics. The systematic implementation of United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production - RCP) in society is at the core of EURECA-PRO’s mission and vision. Its interdisciplinary composition and international expertise are an ideal breeding ground for innovation covering technological, ecological, policy, economic and societal aspects and their transfer into society and industry.

EURECA-PRO’s ambition is to provide education that teaches the complexity of systems and fosters cooperation across expertise fields and borders that can generate solution-based approaches to reducing CO2 emissions and the targets of the EU Green Deal. In order to reach that goal EURECA-PRO combines teaching, research and innovation with flexible study programmes across universities, focusing on sustainability, academic excellence and the strengthening of European values.

The pilot project phase, from 2020 to 2023, laid the foundation for the international and interdisciplinary cooperation among researchers, staff and students across the partner universities to build a strong and strategic university alliance. It introduced new study programmes on Responsible Consumption and Production and established research groups and six lighthouse missions, as well as an international renowned conference on RCP. In early 2023, the EURECA-PRO team submitted the proposed vision for the future of the alliance to the EC and today we celebrate the news of the confirmation for funding for phase 2 through Erasmus+.

During the next project phase, from 2023 to 2027, the alliance will build on past achievements and will focus on deepening the collaboration with external stakeholders from industry and politics, as well as society. With its future initiatives, such as the setting up of multiple joint degrees, the Doctoral School, Project Factory, and Lifelong Learning Academy, EURECA-PRO will continue to promote innovative teaching, interdisciplinary research, scientific innovation and knowledge transfer to society.

Joint degrees will allow students to move freely from one partner university to the other, virtually and/or physically.

The newly created Doctoral School aims to provide young researchers with unique resources, knowledge and infrastructure to develop new solutions for responsible consumption and production.

The EURECA-PRO Project Factory will specifically promote research collaboration within the alliance, creating space for innovation, especially on SDG12. At the same time, the results of our research will be effectively communicated to society and industry with the ultimate goal of influencing policy makers to introduce more responsible production initiatives into legislation.

The EURECA-PRO Lifelong Learning Academy will train educators in innovative teaching methods and introduce transversal skills and RCP issues to the general public. This will ensure that Europeans develop a strong awareness of the importance of responsible consumption and production and apply these skills in every aspect of their professional and private lives.

With the help of all these new initiatives, EURECA-PRO’s goal is to become the global educational core hub and interdisciplinary research and innovation leader in responsible consumption and production as one integrated European campus across nine universities at all levels.

Visit www.eurecapro.eu for more information.