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Together with the City for the Development of YUFE
Joint activities for integration, openness and the promotion and protection of cultural and linguistic diversity - this is part of the agreement on cooperation in implementing the YUFE project, which was signed on 27th May by Prof. dr habil. Andrzej Sokala, the Rector of Nicolaus Copernicus University, and Michał Zaleski, the Mayor of Toruń.
Young Universities for the Future of Europe (YUFE), is one of 41 alliances selected by the European Commission to build and test the model of the European University - open, non-elitist and inclusive, and which promotes innovation, interdisciplinarity and excellence in research and education.
In cooperation with our partners, we are creating and testing various solutions which will soon lead to the creation of European universities, which will radically change the European educational space.
YUFE is made up of ten dynamic, young, student-centred research universities (a total of over 190,000 students and over 32,000 staff), including Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, and four non-academic partners working in higher education, labour market and entrepreneurship.
Cooperation within YUFE is based on the cross-promotion of educational programmes, the development of mechanisms to facilitate student and staff mobility and the creation of a model of higher education that is borderless yet well embedded in the local context.
- This project is extremely important not only to our University but also to the City,' notes Professor Andrzej Sokala, Rector of the Nicolaus Copernicus University. - In cooperation with our partners, we are creating and testing various solutions which will soon lead to the creation of European universities, which will radically change the European educational space. They will be more inclusive, more diverse, promote key European ideas and help build local identities. I am sure that both the city and the university will benefit greatly from this agreement.
The document obliges the university to take action to strengthen Toruń's position as a vibrant academic centre that is open, welcoming and fostering innovation. The city, on the other hand, has declared its willingness to actively engage in activities related to the implementation of the idea of 'YUFE in the City' and the promotion of such initiatives as the YUFE Academy, YUFE Talk Shows, YUFE Challenge Teams, YUFE Help Desk, Citizens' Portal and the Community Volunteering Programme, among others. As part of the latter, the local government of Toruń has undertaken to provide English-speaking YUFE students staying at Nicolaus Copernicus University with opportunities to carry out voluntary work in city institutions.
- For me it is obvious that as a city we are obliged to support the University in these activities - said Mayor Michał Zaleski. - The city has a duty to its citizens to be in constant symbiosis with the University, whose values are invigorating and creative. Through the initiatives of Nicolaus Copernicus University, such as participation in YUFE, Toruń can only gain.
The NCU counts on the special support of the local government in promoting the YUFE Help Desks network, where students under the supervision of scientists serve the residents of the city and region with their knowledge and experience. Currently, due to the pandemic, the activities of such help desks are virtual. The exact scope of topics and mode of work, as well as rules of using the offer can be found on the website: http://www.poradnie.umk.pl.
