The Urban Research and Education Knowledge Alliance consortium U! REKA, consists of a vibrant partnership of eight higher education institutions (IES) with na urban focus across Europe: the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences; Napier University in Edinburgh; HOGENT University of Applied Sciences and Arts; theUniversity of Applied Sciences, Frankfurt; University Metropolia of Applied Sciences in Helsinki; the Metropolitan University of Oslo; VSB-Technical University of Ostrava; and the Lisbon Polytechnic.
Established in 2016, this alliance was expanded in 2019 and now includes about 165,000 students and 15,000 employees. Since its inception, the alliance has successfully established collaborations in teaching, research, mobility initiatives, and the organization of joint conferences. Its impact stretches across the four regions of the European Higher Education Area, reaching approximately 14.4 million European citizens.
It is an international network of applied teaching and research, innovation and education with common goals. The essential goal of the consortium U! REKA is to educate the European professionals of tomorrow. These professionals will contribute to an inclusive, intercultural and open-minded professional Europe. U! REKA is committed to strengthening the quality and visibility of European education in the global talent market.
The eight higher education institutions are associated, working to strengthen ties across Europe and to develop the urban experience they share as institutions of learning. The consortium is a commitment to promoting the internationalization of teaching and research at all partner institutions in order to develop skills and share global solutions of inclusion and diversity in the twenty-first century.
The consortium annually organizes the U! REKA Conference, a networking opportunity, bringing together professors, researchers and technicians to discuss and develop new projects and forms of collaboration.
The activities of the consortium are organised into working groups covering Research and Development in Higher Education, Mobility, Urban Labs, Digital Transformation, Students, Internationalization at Home etc.
After an application to the European project "European universities", the consortium aims towards the future organization of a joint degree among the participating institutions.