On October 9, International Cooperation and Foreign Students Department of Riga Technical University hosted the very first European Universities Breakfast Meeting involving the representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science and four Latvian higher education institutions selected for the European Universities Initiative.

The purpose of this meeting was to share experience, ideas and views on the major managerial matters related to the implementation process of the European Universities initiative all the parties are working on in conjunction with other universities from different European countries. Additionally, representatives of the four Latvian higher education institutions explored possibilities for further cooperation in exchange of good practices and dissemination of the information.

We would like to convey our gratitude to the Vice-Rector for Humanities and Social Sciences of University of Latvia, Prof. Ina Druviete and her team – Alīne Gržibovska, Sintija Maculeviča and Sintija Ķestere – for sharing in-depth insight into their experience and several key takeaways from the first year by implementing the project “Fostering Outreach within European Regions, Transnational Higher Education and Mobility” and the detailed and constructive comments about the project “For Common Fine Arts Curriculum” and its first year of implementation given by the Head of Project and Development Department of the Art Academy of Latvia, Jānis Gailītis.

Since we are going to begin our journey towards formation of the European University of Technology on the 1st of November (preliminary starting date), we would like to express our sincere thanks also to the Administrative Vice-Rector of Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences, Iveta Putniņa for sharing their experience and challenges that come along with a preparatory process before launching the project “Engaged and Entrepreneurial European University as Driver for European Smart and Sustainable Regions”.

We would like to highlight the insightful contribution brought to the discussions by Daiga Ivsiņa, an expert at the Ministry of Education and Science, enriching our understanding regarding different organizational matters.

We hope this meeting will serve as a basis for further cooperation between our universities and supporting each other in the establishment process of our each separate European University.