There is no physical “headquarter” university that unifies them all. Instead, the alliance can be seen as one unified imaginary or virtual campus.

“For CBS, this is a great opportunity to form international partnerships and network across countries, and what’s particularly positive is the fact that the EUN-partnership addresses the scientific fields of Societal Impact and Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation, which form CBS’ core area. So, to put it mildly, we’re very happy to join the alliance,” says  Martin Jes Iversen, Vice Dean of International Education at the Department of Strategy and Innovation and coordinator of the partnership, and he adds:

“And in pandemic times like these, where positive news has become a rare occurrence, it was very good news to receive!”

The European Commission is behind the vision of European Universities, and the goal is to develop a long line of European Universities, unified as an imaginary virtual campus, by strengthening the strategic partnerships between further education programs throughout the EU.

This vision fits well with CBS’ strategy and core research area, according to Martin Jes Iversen.

“CBS has followed the EUN initiaitve right from the beginning with great interest, so when CBS was asked to by its long-term partner university – VU University Amsterdam – to team up and apply, the invitation was accepted and an application was written.”

An international dimension

Martin Jes Iversen points out that joining the EUN alliance includes a range of benefits for CBS – both symbolic and concrete.

“On a symbolic level, being a Danish partner in the EUN alliance is positive because it makes CBS much more visible when other European Universities reach out for research partnerships and alliances,” he says and goes on:

“And on a more concrete and important level, because the EUN alliance focuses mainly on Societal Impact and Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation, we will be able to strengthen our efforts within the field of Social Entrepreneurship. Both in terms of teaching a research.

“Therefore, the aim for CBS as part of the alliance is to strengthen our academic and educational efforts as well as the international possibilities that may arise within the area of Social Entrepreneurship,” he concludes.

Being a partner in an international alliance with six other European Universities also facilitates other possibilities.

“The fact that we can contribute, discuss and learn from other international universities in the alliance brings a whole new format to our research and teaching within Social Entrepreneurship. In other words, through the EUN alliance, we can build an international dimension upon our teaching and research that would otherwise be impossible. And to me, that’s very exciting and encouraging.”

Defined expectations

As its approved partnership status in the alliance is relatively new, Martin Jes Iversen is still in the early stages of organizing CBS´ structure in the European alliance.

“Right now, we’re working on establishing a team, finding out which department the partnership should be embedded in and defining how to structure the whole initiative. A lot of administrative decisions and demands must be taken into consideration when becoming involved in alliances like the EUN. So that’s our aim at the moment,” he says.

But although some work remains to be done, the coordinator has some clear expectations for the new position in the EUN alliance.

“I have two very clear expectations. The first is that the relationship between theory and practice within Social Entrepreneurship will be strengthened. The other is that we gain a stronger international dimension for our teaching and research.”

“And if we manage to do that, it will be amazing!”

Education Research