Rector Ramírez was appointed president of the Assembly of the Euromed Permanent University Forum

EPUF is composed by more than 120 institutions. It includes many Catalan universities and research centres. Some of them are: the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed), the Institut Ramon Llull, Abat Oliva CEU University, the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the Universitat Jaume I, the Open University of Catalonia, the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Pompeu Fabra University, Ramon Llull University, the Universitat Rovira i Virgili, the University of Girona, the University of Lleida, the University of the Balearic Islands, the Vives Network of Universities and the University of Barcelona.

EPUF was created in Tampere (Finland) in 2006. Its main objectives are to provide policy guidelines to create an integrated Euro-Mediterranean Partnership for Higher Education, to contribute to the promotion of a knowledge society, to encourage collaboration and dialogue between the regionʼs educational institutions and cultural traditions, to promote a sustainable development of scientific and technological exchange, and to become a network of reference acting in a concerted effort towards the European Institutions in order to achieve the creation of a Euro-Mediterranean Higher Education Area (EMHEA).

The appointment of the new management team of EPUF means that, from now, the UB is responsible for the day-to-day running of the institution, fostering the annual working plan, and building a strategic plan to consolidate and extend the work that the institution carries out. To achieve it, the Rector delegated the Executive Secretary of EPUF to the Josep Termes Chair for Leadership, Citizenship and Identities, headed by Professor Agustí Colomines.

The vice-rector for International Policy of the UB, Dr Maria Callejón, represented the UB in the Assembly of EPUF. Dr Callejón stressed that the institution must influence European institutions in those issues on which it is expert. Moreover, she remarked that “it is necessary to consolidate the relationship among all EPUF members and to promote bilateral agreements”.

Just after the General Assembly, experts from around the Mediterranean region participated in a two-day seminar that UB hosts. The seminar is part of the project ISLAH (Instruments at Support of Labour Market and Higher Education), which aims at supporting the analysis of graduatesʼ abilities and professional careers.