Working meeting of EUT+ members, May 21 – 24 at h_da

200 participants gathered at a working meeting at the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences, Germany. Alliance members worked on important issues related to further integration and creating the necessary conditions for close collaboration among alliance members. Leading topics included student mobility cards, digital technologies in education, sustainable development and the green transition, and the establishment of clear rules for creating joint research groups and research institutes.

Teachers from TU-Sofia, participants in the meeting, actively participated in the working groups. Numerous proposals were made to improve work and cooperation, focusing on research and sustainability. Bulgarian representatives discussed key issues in their fields and continued joint projects at the European level:

•  - Regarding student training, it was discussed how different types of digital technologies in education can be made more accessible. A detailed plan was drawn up aimed at improving awareness among students and teachers about working with various digital technologies, platforms, and artificial intelligence. 
•  - Joint meetings were held between teams working in the field of digital technologies and the green office. Their work was integrated in seeking solutions to the problem of implementing ecological technologies and sustainable engineering solutions over time. 
•  - A discussion was held on the issue of building the so-called Mobility Maps Study Programmes (univ-tech.eu) - a tool that gives students easier orientation in disciplines and allows them to receive recognition for the entire semester and the required 30 ECTS credits. At the Technology University – Troia, France, a platform has been developed in which data of all participants and programs have been entered. Thus, information can be selected by topics: host university, sending university, semester, and discipline.
•   - Sustainability is one of the main themes of EUT+. Within this activity, a seminar was held focusing on the analysis of sustainability policies, highlighting the existing gap in knowledge regarding sustainability goals, in the context of many ecological and social values.
•  - In the working meetings on the 'Partnerships' task, the process of signing agreements between EUt+ and organizations outside the higher education sector (non-HEIs) and the accompanying documents were reviewed.
•  - Following the successful completion of the pilot phase of EUt+ Academic Press, the current year 2024 is dedicated to creating an improved and sustainable model that will allow the press to operate again in 2025, offering quality products and services in accordance with the alliance's policies and needs.
•  - Within the framework of the 'EUt+ accelerate days' in Darmstadt, a meeting of university chancellors was also held, where statistical data from university budgets were presented and funding sources in different countries were compared. Opportunities for obtaining additional funding for alliance participants through various European structures were discussed.
•  - In Darmstadt, a meeting of deputy rectors for research and members of the Research Council of the alliance was held, which adopted common rules for the establishment and operation of joint research groups and the formation and operation of European research institutes.

Within the week, the EUt+ Ideas Institute Think Tank organized a debate on the topic 'Achieving a Green Transition in EUt+: Challenges and Strategies for Integration'. The host was the SCHADER STIFTUNG foundation. During the debate, panelists exchanged ideas, defined practically applicable strategies and approaches for cooperation to promote the principles of sustainable development among all partner universities of EUt+, ensuring that the green transition is in line with UNESCO's vision for education and research for sustainable development.

Education builds values firmly grounded in the foundation of past experience, the results of the present, and ideas for the future. As part of EUT+, Technical University Sofia is increasingly opening doors for its students.