OpenEU alliance

OpenEu is one of 65 university alliances approved by the European Commission (Erasmus+ Programme ERASMUS-EDU-2024-EUR-UNIV, Project: 101177241-OpenEU) as part of its initiative for European Universities.

The alliance, approved in 2024, has as its primary objective the creation of the first pan-European open university, being made up of eight of the leading open and distance learning universities in Europe: the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), coordinator of the project, the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), the Open University of the Netherlands, the Fernuniversität Hagen (Germany), the Open University of Cyprus, the Open University of Portugal, the Open Hellenic University (Greece), and the University of Bifröst (Iceland). In addition, OPEN UK is an associated partner.

The alliance also has EADTU (the European Association of Distance Teaching Universities) as an associate member and other associations of interest to develop all the alliance's activities over the next four years.

It brings together 27 academic and non-academic organisations, more than 368,000 students, and 24,000 teaching staff from all over Europe.

OpenEU, which began its journey in January 2025, will offer higher education in an advanced and inclusive digital ecosystem, throughout life, addressing three significant current challenges: enhancing the digital transition of higher education, environmental sustainability and democracy and European values, through a transnational offer of joint official and non-official training programmes that will foster the international mobility of this large academic community, as well as a wide range of transnational activities in an interoperable environment.

The OpenEU project will last four years, from 2024 to 2028, and aims to become a sustainable alliance over time.

The Vice-Rectorate for Internationalisation and Multilingualism is responsible for coordinating the alliance at UNED, with Laura Alba Juez, Vice-Rector for Internationalisation and Multilingualism, Fernando Val Garijo, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Projects and International Relations, and Ángeles Sánchez-Elvira Paniagua, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for the coordination of OpenEU at the UNED, with the support of the Office of Internationalisation and various Vice-Chancellors, as well as other UNED experts for the development of the different activities.

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