On September 4 and 5 of 2025, the Geminae conference, organised by the UNITA* alliance at Zaragoza University (UNIZAR) in Spain, gathered 30 participants coming from around ten partner universities outside Europe.
The event enabled to reward innovative initiatives within the scope of the « Best Practice Award », and to create new prospects of international collaboration
A conference to widen the Geminae network
The Geminae conference, organised in the context of the « Expanding UNITA in Europe and beyond » mission, gathered representatives from about ten Geminae universities and nearly 30 participants in Zaragoza. The Geminae programme, led by the UNITA alliance, aims to create a network of « sister » universities outside Europe, in Romance-language countries as a priority.
Increase the value of best practicies
This meeting was also the occasion to highlight the laureates of the Best Practice Awards’ second edition, which awards pioneer practices and initiatives that contribute to make universities more efficient and dynamic in an increasingly globalised higher education context. By enhancing these initiatives, UNITA wants to favour its diffusion within the network and to increase public visibility of the projects developed by the Geminae universities. On this occasion, the UPPA invited Walter Suemitsu (Unidaded Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and Katerin Neira (Universidad de los Andes, Colombia). The latter was representing her university, which was the winner in the category Campus Life, Green initiatives and Commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in Higher Education
A heightened international dimension
Besides the Universidad de los Andes and the UFRJ, many universities member of the Geminae network took part in the discussions : Universidad de la Plata and Universidad de Cuyo in Argentina, Universidad de Rosario in Colombia, Universidade Federal de Viçosa in Brazil, as well as the University of Antananarivo in Madagascar.
New prospects of collaboration
Beyond the prizes, the lecture enabled to strengthen bonds between UNITA partners and Geminae Universities, laying the foundations for future collaborations and new agreements outside Europe. The UPPA especially exchanged with its Brazilian partners of Viçosa and Rio de Janiero, with whom and extra-European mobility project is being prepared in the context of the upcoming Erasmus+ KA171 call for proposals (Mobility of higher education students and staff to third countries).
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