INVEST TAKES PART IN THE THIRD FOREU4ALL WORKSHOP
The third FOREU4ALL workshop took place on 2nd & 3rd June 2026 at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Entitled “From campuses to communities: enhancing engagement and sense of belonging in European Universities”, this workshop gathered more than 150 members onsite and even more online, to explore new ways to improve or create new dynamics together.
As a member of the FOREU4ALL Communication & Dissemination topical group, Louise Depermentier (Communications & events officer at the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne) was invited to take part in it.
Inspiring speeches, panel and roundtable
As opening and closing speeches, participants had the opportunity to listen to Laurence Farreng, Member of the European Parliament, and Alison Garnier-Rivers, Co-lead of FOREU4ALL WP2 and EPICUR European university alliance manager. They tackled how European University Alliances have already been such a transformative force and the added value perceived in universities that are part of such a consortium, as well as the initiative's future currently being shaped at the European level.
Participants also attended a keynote panel around the topic “why sense of belonging matters: lessons from European University Alliances” with testimonies from Francesco Girotti & Danielle Taylor from Una Europa, Lily Bethencourt from the EUt+ Alliance, and Eddie Arriaga Flores from the FOREU4ALL topical group student-led community on sustainable and democratic student participation.
The “Hearing students’ voices” roundtable led by Eddie Arriaga Flores was a highlight of the workshop. Anette-Mai Pirk-Birk from the CIVIS alliance; Gaida Lefeuvre, from EUniWell; Thomas Kowalewski, from EC2U, Sarah Fuhrich, from EUC Voices, and Dominika Guzik, from the Erasmus Student Network, each shared their experiences as students. A truly insightful discussion on the successes on their pathways and good practices within their organisations, but also on the challenges they experienced or observed.
A hands-on workshop to create practical tools
Several working groups were organised during this workshop with the aim of going from theory to practice by developing prototypes to face various challenges:
- How to reinforce the sense of belonging
- How to improve awareness
- How to overcome mobility barriers
- How to improve motivation
- Understanding the value of European University Alliances
For two days, participants worked in groups, brainstorming, discussing, engaging with each other and ultimately producing 12 prototypes, ranging from communication campaigns to dedicated coffee spaces or even a van tour to promote opportunities within alliances.
Among these prototypes, INVEST participated in “This is not for me”: a communication campaign aiming to prove that there’s an opportunity for everyone within European University Alliances, even for those who might think that this is not for them.
This campaign came from an assessment: simply expecting student to find the right opportunity is not the right way; instead, we should bring the information to where they are. Therefore, we prototyped a pathway to help match opportunities to the right target audience, using designated channels after a mapping of each university’s means.
More information will be available later on the FOREU4ALL website.
In conclusion, this event gathered passionate professionals around captivating topics. We could hear impactful testimonies, the will to create meaningful experiences for everyone, to foster inclusion and diversity, to carry European values, and most of all: the value of teamwork.
Finally, a warm thank you to the organisers for the quality of this event: FOREU4ALL, the EPICUR alliance, especially the team from the University of Strasbourg, as well as the topical group chairs Giovanni Andriolo, Barbara Guyomarch, Blanca Burillo Largo and everyone who contributed to it: speakers, facilitators, student volunteers, …