The First Conference of EUNICoast

The new European university alliance, EUNICoast, of which the University of the Faroe Islands is a part, successfully held its first online conference.

EUNICoast stands for The European Alliance of Islands, Ports, and Coastal Territories, and it brings together 13 European universities that all share a common connection to the sea in one way or another.

The aim of this collaboration is to develop education, research, and innovation with a focus on the sea. The alliance has also secured over 100 million DKK in funding from the EU.

The University of the Faroe Islands is a full member of this collaboration, although with the exception that it does not have access to the funding, as the Faroe Islands are not part of the Erasmus+ program. The Faroese government has announced that a formal request will be sent to the European Commission, seeking Faroese membership in Erasmus+. There is hope that this will eventually open the doors to funding as well.

The first online conference of EUNICoast was held on September 27 with the purpose of introducing the new collaboration to the public. The program featured around 80 presentations from the 13 participating universities, all covering the five thematic areas EUNICoast will focus on.

There were 378 participants in the conference, 40 of whom were from outside the partnership.

EUNICoast is working to create strong connections between coastal communities and to provide students and researchers with opportunities to collaborate on new knowledge that can help address societal and environmental challenges.

This new European collaboration will officially begin on November 7, and the multifaceted activities will span four years in the first phase.

Read more about EUNICoast here.