PIONEER: An ambitious European project for more sustainable cities
The official launch of the PIONEER project took place in the last week of February at the Gustave Eiffel University in Paris.
The PIONEER Alliance is an ambitious project by ten European universities to develop safer, more sustainable and more inclusive cities. The official launch of the project took place in the last week of February at the Gustave Eiffel University in Paris. The event was attended by more than 200 participants from ten European universities.
Laurea was represented by 15 project members working on eight targeted work packages, plus two student representatives. In addition to the networking and work package meetings, highlights included activities to support collaboration between the different teams, a visit to Gustave Eiffel University, project presentations and exhibitions. The Laurea delegation was joined by others for a dinner at the impressive Musée des Arts et Métiers.
The project has received funding from the European Commission's Erasmus+ programme for 2025-2028 and is linked to UN Sustainable Development Goal 11, which focuses on building sustainable and safe cities. The PIONEER Alliance mobilizes the expertise of its member universities in several key areas:
- Adapting cities to climate change and moving towards a more sustainable future
- Nature and biodiversity in urban areas
- Mobility and the digital transition
- Energy and infrastructure sustainability
- Health and social inclusion
The PIONEER Alliance brings together 10 major universities with more than 130 000 students and 17 000 academic and administrative staff from around the world. The Alliance's strength lies in the expertise of its member universities in urban development and ecosystem co-creation.
Alliance members are:
- Université Gustave Eiffel (France)
- Avans University of Applied Sciences (The Netherlands)
- ISCTE - University Institute of Lisbon (Portugal)
- Laurea-ammattikorkeakoulu (Finland)
- TH Cologne - University of Applied Sciences (Germany)
- University of Huelva (Spain)
- IUAV - Università Iuav di Venezia (Italy)
- UTB - Tomas Bata University in Zlín (Czech Republic)
- University of Zilina (Slovakia)
- University of Applied Sciences Bern (Switzerland)
More information:
- Mika Launikari
- Mika.Launikari@laurea.fi
- Tel +358503442976
- At Laurea, Mika is involved in international higher education cooperation, incl. the European University Alliance PIONEER, and competence development in the area of transformative leadership.