Last 5 May took place at the LUCA School of Arts in Brussels the FILM-EU Conference: Future Governance models of the European Universities.  The event brougth together European Universities representatives and different stakeholders to discuss the future of European universities alliances’ governance model. Participants had the opportunity to debate about management structures, challenges and problems associated with their implementation and exchange best practices, inlcuding the CHARM-EU case.

Meritxell Chaves, CHARM-EU Alliance Manager and chair of FOREU1 Subgroup on Governance and Legal Framework participated in the roundtable about the National/European friction and the Future Legal Status of European Universities. During the session, participants discussed about the importance of the FOREU1 governance group to avoid the overlapping work within the 17 alliances, to identify common barriers – legal, financial, and regulatory (Local, regional or European) and to produce inputs for the co-creation of these future entities for the alliances, European Commission and the State Members. She also introduced the CHARM-EU journey towards an innovative and holistic governance model and management principles. Finally, Meritxel Chaves highlighted that “a legal entity should not be an end in itself. It should be designed so as to facilitate the launch and coordination of joint projects, without hampering the autonomy of its member institutions or overshadowing their respective brands”.

The event also had the participation from other EU alliances such as UNA Europa, Ulysseus and UNITA that shared the reflections and different governance models.  The FILM-EU conference contributed to the discussions around the existing alliances’ governance model and the steps ahead, particularly regarding European University alliances legal statute in the European arena for education and research transformation.