CHARM-EU Annual Conference: When Culture Brings Us Together

[Article] - Published on November 26, 2024 at CHARM-EU European University

On November 5, the Charm-EU annual conference was held at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) in Budapest, Hungary. It was an opportunity for the nine partners of the alliance of European universities—includingUM—to explore in depth the many facets of interculturality and to highlight its crucial role in strengthening transnational collaboration in higher education.

CHARM-EU is more than just the acronym for an innovative project. Indeed, the project ischallenge-driven, accessible to as many people aspossible,research-based, and highlymobile within the European Union (EU). But it is also, first and foremost, a collaboration among different European universities, cultures, and languages—eleven languages, to be precise. That means as many ways of seeing the world as there are challenges to tackle.

“Our challenges have most often been caused by differences between our cultures,” said the rector of Eötvös Loránd University at the opening of the 2024 Charm-EU annual conference. Hence the importance of“bridging cultures ,embracing diversity,” the inspiring motto of the 2024 Charm-EU Days.

Guardians of Knowledge

A desire to share was the common thread running through the speeches of the nine official representatives from the alliance’s partner universities, who spoke in their native languages, repeatedly emphasizing the urgent need for Europe to remain united. First among them was François Pierrot, Vice President for International Relations atUM “Thanks to everyone’s expertise and enthusiasm, the University of Montpellier has been able to draw on all of your collective know-how. More importantly, alliances of European universities are today true instruments of cohesion for Europe in a world that is becoming more divided by the day.”

“As universities, ‘we are the guardians of knowledge,’” said Jan Butí, president of the Charm-EU Student Council, before emphasizing the need to “work together to build a future where all voices are heard and valued.” Throughout the day, the concept of interculturality was explored in all its diversity under the theme of intercultural learning in European university alliances.

The Spirit of Collaboration

Among the panel discussions that participants at the annual Charm-EU conference were able to attend, one presented the Global South’s perspective on higher education. This was conveyed by Umesh Bawa, a clinical psychologist at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa. “We absolutely must reverse our perspective and look not from the North to the South, but from the South to the North,” he asserted. “Taking the Global South’s frameworks of understanding more fully into account is crucial if we want to make a difference.”

The roundtable discussions were followed by numerous workshops on challenge-based learning, exchange students, the links between AI and multilingualism, the alliance’s shared virtual offices… There was also a workshop led by Céline Fabre (Institut Agro Montpellier) on developing intercultural skills through “Story Circles,” a concept developed by American researcher Darla Deardorff.

Building Trust

In his closing remarks, Jan Haarhuis, director of Charm-EU at Utrecht University (Netherlands), who is soon to retire after having been one of the pioneers of the European project, put forward compelling arguments in favor of interculturalism: “The bonds of trust and reliability that connect all the partners lie at the very heart of our collaboration. Strengthening this trust is a crucial challenge we must overcome, one that requires constant attention and care. It is essential for the future of our alliance to bridge cultures and celebrate diversity. This, I have no doubt, applies to all alliances of European universities.”

On the same day, at the launch of the first edition of the Charm-EU Cultural Festival, Meritxell Chaves, the alliance’s secretary general, praised the “spirit of collaboration” shared by all the partner universities. She added, “Working together makes us so much stronger!” The Eötvös Loránd University choir immediately echoed these words with a brilliant performance of the European anthem in each of the 11 languages of Charm-EU.

Keywords: Charm-eu, International