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The CHARM-EU Annual Conference 2025 takes place on 12 November 2025 in Utrecht and online. By highlighting the prominent role of higher education in driving Europe’s competitiveness, sustainability and inclusion, the European University Alliance CHARM-EU positions itself as a leading force in shaping strategic responses to societal global challenges by contributing to the transformation of the higher education ecosystem.
Held in Utrecht, the Netherlands, the CHARM-EU Annual Conference 2025 will bring together key opinion leaders, European policymakers, university leaders, innovators, academic staff members and students to discuss how university alliances can contribute to Europe’s leadership in professional skills development, talent attraction, mobility, internationalisation and regional development, among others. Through inspiring plenary sessions with top speakers and impactful workshops, this one-day hybrid event will critically examine how the European University alliance model can serve as a driver of European competitiveness.
Annual Conference 2025 HighlightsThe morning sessions will bring together leading voices from policy, academia, and industry to explore how universities can drive Europe’s innovation, digital transformation, and labour market adaptability — underscoring the power of collaboration in shaping the future of higher education. With keynote speakers such as Thomas Estermann (EUA), Vanessa Debiais-Sainton (European Commission), and Wilco Hazeleger (Utrecht University). The afternoon workshops will translate the morning’s strategic discussions into practical applications and measurable impact, addressing key topics such as open science, research, inclusion, transdisciplinary partnership, and digital interoperability.
About CHARM-EUEstablished in 2019, CHARM-EU is a forward-thinking European University alliance supported by the European Commission’s Erasmus+ programme. It brings together nine prestigious higher education institutions: the University of Barcelona (Spain), Trinity College Dublin (Ireland), Utrecht University (The Netherlands), Eötvös Loránd University (Hungary), the University of Montpellier (France), Åbo Akademi University (Finland), the University of Würzburg (Germany), the University of Applied Sciences Ruhr West (Germany), and the University of Bergen (Norway). As one of the European Union’s pioneering alliances, CHARM-EU has assumed a leading role in advancing transnational collaboration in higher education. Its achievements include the launch of increasing joint educational offers, the first and pioneer joint master’s programme under the European Universities initiative, the development of challenge-based pedagogical models, and the promotion of open science and inclusive education, and transferability of the alliance results. CHARM-EU also played a key role in the European Degree Label pilot initiative (ED-AFFICHE).
