CHARM-EU highlighted as a Role Model at the UNIMED General Assembly

CHARM-EU highlighted as a Role Model at the UNIMED General Assembly

Representatives from CHARM-EU took part in the General Assembly of the Union of Mediterranean Universities (UNIMED) held at the University of Calabria on July 9th and 10th. The meeting served as an opportunity to reflect on the challenges and opportunities for higher education in the context of the work towards a new Pact for the Mediterranean, 30 years after the Barcelona Process.

UNIMED2025

The General Assembly of the Union of Mediterranean Universities (UNIMED) represents an important yearly event where rectors, presidents and representatives of UNIMED associated universities meet to exchange views and to determine policy for UNIMED, setting the stage for a full and rich year of initiatives, activities and conferences that shape the academic calendar around the Mediterranean.

This year, the gathering brought together representatives from more than 180 Mediterranean universities to reflected collectively on the challenges facing higher education within the context of a new Pact for the Mediterranean.

The assembly also discussed issues such as Euro-Mediterranean university alliances, UNIMED Masterclass (a leadership training programme aimed at university managers), and the manifesto in favour of climate action by Euro-Mediterranean universities,

Raúl Ramos, Vice-Rector for Internationalization Policy at the University of Barcelona (UB), participated as a CHARM-EU representative in two sessions of the assembly’s program. In the Mediterranean Student Summit, he highlighted the alliance’s governance model as an example of genuine student inclusion: “At CHARM-EU, students not only have a voice, but that voice is fully acknowledged and integrated into all decision-making bodies of the alliance,” he stated.

Raúl Ramos, Vice-Rector for Internationalization Policy at UB, participated as a CHARM-EU representative at UNIMED general Assembly.

In the second session, focused on Euro-Mediterranean alliances, he emphasized the role of CHARM-EU—alongside other alliances such as UNITE! and EUNIWELL—as models for future regional collaboration pilots. He also stressed the importance of sharing accumulated experience through the toolkits developed by CHARM-EU and the need to create synergies to overcome barriers to university cooperation across the two shores of the Mediterranean.

As celebrated during the UNIMED General Assembly, November 2025 will mark the 30th anniversary of the Barcelona Process, a landmark initiative in Euro-Mediterranean cooperation, launched in 1995 inspired by the hope of shared peace in the Middle East. This initiative united countries from both shores of the Mediterranean to strengthen ties and address common challenges across cultural, economic, political, and environmental domains. The Barcelona Process paved the way for the establishment of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) in 2008, solidifying a spirit of regional cooperation that continues to this day.

The University of Barcelona’s candidature has been selected from among the four candidates to host the General Assembly of the Union of Mediterranean Universities (UNIMED) in 2026.