FORTHEM Presidency met in Jyväskylä on 5-6 June

Rectors, vice-rectors, FORTHEM coordinators and other representatives from nine universities in our alliance arrived at Jyväskylä. The President of the FORTHEM Student Council and the Student Officer were also present.

The two-day programme was opened with a session that looked at the alliance’s achievements so far, and reviewed the practices of the new funding period and the new governance structure. Strategy workshops were organised for rectors and vice-rectors to compare the strategies of their universities with the objectives of our common network. The FORTHEM Alliance strategy is currently being developed up to 2030 and it is important that the objectives are aligned with those of each partner university. As part of this strategy work, the rectors and vice-rectors discussed risk management and identified opportunities for collaboration. The actual meeting of the Rectors' Council outlined the role of this new group and the influence of the Rectors in strengthening the commitment of their university.

During the first day, the Alliance representatives enjoyed both a lunch cruise on the Päijänne and a Semma dinner reception in the lobby of the university's main building. On the second day, they were introduced to the library Lähde, the Alvar Aalto campus and the student and staff lunch culture at Lozzi.

Tuesday evening culminated in a reception at the City Hall hosted by Mayor Timo Koivisto.

Our network has been operational since the beginning of the first funding period of the European Universities Network, in 2019. The very close daily cooperation between the universities in the network brings our international activities to a whole new level. While online meetings are often efficient and well-suited for day-to-day business, the deeper the cooperation, the more important face-to-face meetings and personal contacts become. The first FORTHEM Presidency meeting, held on the University of Jyväskylä campus, with its accompanying programme, was particularly important for this purpose. Continuing cooperation will be even easier in the future.

Alltogether around 40 people from the FORTHEM partner Universities participated in the meeting.