Mary Immaculate College (MIC) has recently been approved as an Associate Partner of the EMERGE European University Alliance, opening new collaborative opportunities with universities across Europe in education, research and societal engagement.
EMERGE (Empowering the Margins of Europe through Regional and Global Engagement) brings together nine European universities across Ireland, Germany, France, Spain, Slovakia, Cyprus, Greece and Norway, with a shared mission of empowering marginalised regions and promoting European values and identity through collaboration.
Societal engagement sits at the heart of the Alliance, with work organised across nine work packages covering areas including Community Engagement and Services, Educational Programmes, Flexible Lifelong Learning for Adults and Enhancing Mobility. Each member institution contributes to the Alliance’s work and leads a different work package.
Dr Holly Cowman, Director of International Engagement at MIC, said the Associate Membership provides a valuable opportunity for the College to strengthen its European connections:
“Joining EMERGE as an Associate Partner allows MIC to build meaningful connections with universities across Europe and contribute our expertise and experience to the work of the Alliance. This partnership offers an exciting opportunity to work even more closely with our colleagues at the University of Limerick, which is leading the Alliance. EMERGE’s strong focus on societal engagement is particularly relevant to MIC and the communities we serve, and we look forward to exploring collaborative possibilities related to education, research and lifelong learning with all EMERGE’s stakeholders.”
Professor Dermot Nestor, President of MIC, added:
“MIC is delighted to join the EMERGE European University Alliance as an Associated Partner, and is grateful to the University of Limerick, as coordinator of the Alliance, for its support. EMERGE brings together universities that are deeply rooted in their regions and committed to working across borders on shared educational and societal challenges. That is MIC's own approach, in Limerick, in Thurles and beyond.
Associated Partnership opens new opportunities for our staff and students to work with colleagues and peers across Europe, and for MIC to contribute its distinctive strengths to the Alliance's work in education, research, mobility, and community engagement. EMERGE is an important addition to MIC's growing network of European and international partnerships, and one we look forward to developing actively in the years ahead.”
