The UNITA European Alliance (of which West University of Timisoara is a part of), through the UNITA-Universitas Montium project, offers its students the opportunity to experiment new forms of mobility. Thus, it contributes to objectives of developing rural mountain territories, as well as increasing the opportunities for personal and professional development of UNITA students.
Our universities are located in rural and cross-border mountain regions across Southern, Central and Eastern Europe- Serra da Estrela (Beira Interior), the Pyrenees (Pau and Zaragoza), the Alps (Savoie Mont Blanc and Turin), and the Banat Mountains (Timisoara), in ecosystems sharing similar challenges.
UNITA Rural Mobility: a new form of student mobility focused on the sustainable development of rural, mountain, border areas!
It is an amazing chance for students who want to go the extra mile with their education, research and overall growth, while also making unique memories! The initiative is currently in the pilot phase but we can already see great results. For 2021, five students from Università degli Studi di Torino, Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour, Université Savoie Mont Blanc, Universidad de Zaragoza and Universidade Beira Interior, arrived in Timișoara on the 5th of July in order to start their amazing journey in the picturesque mountain territories from Banat.
Besides getting familiar to an amazing area, the students are able to work together with their host, WeWilder, UVT’s partner in this pilot phase, developing innovative ideas for the sustainability of rural mountain regions. The dissemination and communication team from UVT reached the five incoming students and asked them for first impressions on their time spent in Armeniș, Sat Bătrân. You will be able to see their testimonials very soon on UNITA Social Media Channels. Additionally, this first experience allows for various implementation procedures developed within UNITA for the purpose of supporting hundreds of rural mobilities in all six areas represented by the partners in the alliance by the end of our project, and beyond.
All of the involved actors will offer feedback in order to develop this initiative further and ensure the sustainability of UNITA Rural Mobilities as a flagship initiative of the UNITA alliance. Moreover, during this phase, UNITA’s partners focus on creating communities of practice and sharing resources, including teachers, researchers and administrative staff. At the end of this period, the teams will be used to working together, helping each other and exchanging ideas that will undoubtedly lead to new innovations and new projects. As soon as the pilot phase ended, a video overview of the first UNITA rural mobilities in Romania was filmed and it is available online.
*reposted partially from UNITA News&Views, the Newsletter of the UNITA European Alliance.
