This led us to design and launch UNITA International cooperation strategy: “GEMINAE”, on the 15^th of September. After the invitation of all UNITA rectors to the selected non-European Universities, the introduction to the program was done by Stefano Geuna Rector of UNITO and was presented in three of the languages of the alliance: French, Portuguese and Spanish. This multilingual approach is one of the core elements of this Internationalization strategy that aims to foster the multilingualism fostering by using romance languages in all the spheres of university life to enhance linguistic diversity and promote inclusion.

This will lead to increase the awareness and acceptance of linguistic and cultural diversity. Through the Geminae program, UNITA cooperation with universities outside the European Union aims of creating a network of best practices that search innovation giving special relevance to the challenges that rural and cross-border regions are facing.

Cooperation is seen in its broader terms, it includes traditional mobilities and innovative ones, such as online, blended or rural mobilities, but cooperation will also include new collaboration initiatives in research, teaching, administration and governance.

 This cooperation will start with key areas of UNITA, such as the research hubs in Circular Economy, Renewable Energies and Cultural Heritage or the Inter-comprehension programs. Initially 30 universities of America, Asia and Africa have been invited, but this network is born to be expanded.

The identification of best practices will be the basis for a biannual conference that will award the most innovative and relevant best practices identified. This project is also possible thanks to the cooperation with our associate partners, in particular, Campus Iberus, OEI and AUF, that supported us in the presentation of the program.

After the initial launch of the program, during next months, different projects and initiatives will be presented to make this cooperation active, fruitful and enriching. Stay tuned for our Geminae Research Workshops, Staff weeks, Mobility programs and inter-comprehension courses.

The city of Pau, France, was the host of the second face-to-face meetings of the heads of the universities that are part of UNITA – Universitas Montium on the 22- 24^th of September, 2021.

The meetings were aimed at discussing the continuity of the project,analyzing the activities launched so far and preparing those for the coming months.

The Governance Board was held on the 23^rd of September, starting 13:00 pm CET, with Stefano Geuna, the rector of Università degli Studi di Torino, warmly welcoming  the participants of both the physical and online meeting.

The Governance Board in Pau was constituted by the rectors and delegates of the 6 partner universities: Laurent Border, rector of UPPA, Mario Lino Barata Raposo, rector of UBI, Jose Antonio Mayoral Murillo, rector of UNIZAR, Felipe Galez, rector of USMB, and Octavian Mădălin Bunoiu, Vice-Rector of UVT and delegate of West University from Timișoara’s rector Marilen Gabriel Pirtea, the Advisory Council representatives: Ana Paula Laborinho, organização dos estados ibero-americanos (OEI), Olfa Zeribi, Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie(AUF),Andra-Mirona Stan-Dragotesc, UNITA Office UVT coordinator, the Quality and Evaluation Board representative: Antonio Serrano Gonzales- Agencia de Calidad y Prospectiva Universitaria de Aragon (ACPU), RE-UNITA Representative Frederic Marias, UPPA, WP4 Leader, and last but not least, the representative of the Students’ Assembly, Ungurean Denisa from UVT.

The new Associated Partners Universities which joined our Alliance were briefly described in the first part of the meeting as well as their participation in the project along with the ultimate goal, that of enlarging the horizons of UNITA. Their status was unanimously approved by the Governance Board members.

These newly welcomed partners are: Universidad Publica de Navarra, Transilvania University of Brașov, Universita di Brescia, Politecnico da Guarda.

Since our Alliance is growing expanding more and more each time, the different branches which are born from UNITA must be somehow connected. In order to have great results and truly exchange good practices amongst us we must link UNITA, Re-UNITA and INNOUNITA throughout its commonalities as well as differences. The mapping of these links was presented to the Governance Board by Laurance Vignollet from USMB and Frederic Marias, UPPA.

Updates were made on the Legal Entity by Barbara Gagliardi and also on Reasearch and Innovation by Frederic Marias.

The Governance Board and all the other events which took place in Pau during 22-24^th of September were fruitful and in the absolute benefit of our Alliance, UNITA-Universitas Montium.

UNITA-Universitas Montium has once more enlarged its scientific and innovating horizons, this time with the kick-off meeting of Re-UNITA, an ambitious project won in European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. 

Re-UNITA does not only deepen UNITA’s main interest areas, research and innovation, but also symbolizes a new set of opportunities for scientists, researchers and professors to develop and enhance the results of their work into a competitive and prosperous environment.

The 24^th of September was dedicated to Re-UNITA, as it has officially kicked-off:

The welcoming words of Laurent Bordes, the rector of UPPA, set the stage for an interesting series of speeches regarding challenges, possible obstacles and soon-to-be-seen outcomes of the newly implemented project.

The structure of Re-UNITA was also discussed with great sense of detail by the work-packages coordinators, highlighting as well the links and connections which can and will be made between UNITA and Re-UNITA.

With great hopes and big dreams ahead, Re-UNITA is officially on its way to create the most proactive environment for the researchers of this Alliance and not only.

Stay tuned to find out more about Re-UNITA related news and events! 

August is a time to relax and holidays for everyone, but it wasn’t that at all for our six international students who on the 16^th of August went to Ostana, a rural village at 1250 a.s.l, in the north-western Alps, very close to the French border, in front of the Monviso peak.

They lived an amazing and unique experience in the framework of UNITA Rural Mobility, a pilot project of our UNITA alliance. The students had the opportunity to work and learn in a context of smart and sustainable development in rural and mountain areas.

The project has, like many successful recipes, three main ingredients:

• Internationalization;
• Interdisciplinarity;
• Innovation;

Andrea, Catalina, Marcos, Veronica, William and Andressa coming from UNITA Universities in Italy, Romania, Spain, France and Portugal took the challenge of a new kind of traineeship entering a path of discovery and study in the contemporary mountain, ranging from the territory to the community, from culture to nature, under the expert guide of the VISO A VISO team and in tight collaboration with the university research centre Alpstream.

Co-live, co-learn and co-work, that is what UNITA students did for three weeks in Ostana. Supporting Viso A Viso in ongoing cultural projects and community building, they actively contributed to the creation of original material for the Living Library of the Alps and collaborated with experts in cataloguing a rich bibliographic collection for the Open Library of Ostana.

Get up at four in the morning to explore the mountain territory with professional guides, discovering the Rio Martino Grotta, hiking to Buco di Viso (the first gallery, built in 1479, linking France and Italy) and learning about the local fauna, biodiversity and river management with researchers. All this was not just for fun, but to collect and elaborate data for the creation of the game MONVISO PLAY on the MAB-UNESCO cross-border area of Monviso, a project co-designed by Viso A Viso with the National Mountain Museum of Turin and Fabio Viola, one of the leading gaming expert in Italy.

Sharing this unique experience, the team evolved day by day, learning from their different backgrounds, discovering and experiencing intercomprehension strategies, entering in contact with local people and caring for each other. 

A very intense and well-designed program, made possible by the cooperation with our UNITA partners, the local entities in Ostana and the joint effort of the many people involved at UNITO (administrative staff, professors, young researchers), the Viso A Viso team, our UNITA-Rural mobility students and of course our UNITA offices.

This is the kind of experience that you will never forget, which likely results in a transformative impact not only for the students but also for the hosting community!

The success of this pilot project is the best trigger to expand Rural-mobility in our territory and increase the number of students involved for the next years. We will put all our effort and we count on Andrea, Catalina, Marcos, Veronica, William and Andressa as UNITA Rural mobility ambassadors to spread enthusiasm about this project among the UNITA student community.

Stay tuned for October.

This event was aimed at exchanging good practices on student-centered pedagogies, with a particular focus on collaborative learning and transversal skills. The event took place in the form of online conferences and workshops occurring on Mondays September 13 and 20, 2021.

During these days, professors were  able to share their projects, discuss topics and issues regarding distance teaching in Higher Education, and exchange good practices regarding various topics such as student engagement online, motivation, assessment, use of Moodle and interactive tools for teaching.

 You can find the detailed program of these meeting days below:https://www.ubi.pt/Ficheiros/Sites/86/Eventos/951/Program%20for%20WS.pdf

Following the initiative of the  UNITA – „Universitas Montium” project, we kindly invite you to participate in a survey, conducted in order to collect various perceptions on European identity and citizenship.
The anonymous questionnaire is intended to provide support for the online workshop on the meaning of European identity and citizenship, and the results will support the organizers in adapting the workshop and Focus Groups sessions.

Access link: https://forms.univ-unita.eu/134654?lang=en
Deadline for completion: September the 30th, 2021

Thank you in advance for considering our request!

Almost 170 staff members have attended the first edition of the Quinzaine des Langues organized at the Université Savoie Mont Blanc! A dozen teachers from the UNITA alliance participated to this event, dedicated to languages and to intercomprehension. Two rich weeks of intercultural exchange and learning for all the participants!

Link: https://www.univ-smb.fr/2021/07/12/170-participants-pour-la-premiere-quinzaine-des-langues-de-lusmb/

Du 21 juin au 3 juillet, la Quinzaine des langues a réuni près de 170 personnels de l’université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB) et d’universités européennes partenaires pour des cours de langues. Une semaine riche en apprentissages et en échanges interculturels pour l’ensemble des participantes et participants.

LES LANGUES VIVANTES À L’HONNEUR

C’est en présentiel, sur le campus de Jacob-Bellecombette, que les 168 inscrits ont pu suivre des cours de langues. Avec une principale nouveauté cette année : en passant d’une « semaine de Français Langues Étrangères (FLE) » à « quinzaine des langues », l’événement s’est ouvert à de nouvelles langues et à un public plus large.

Des formations d’anglais, d’espagnol, d’italien, d’intercompréhension en langues romanes ou encore pour les formateurs en anglais sont venues s’ajouter à celle de Français Langue Étrangère.

UNE SEMAINE D’ÉCHANGE POUR DES GROUPES MULTICULTURELS ET PLURIDISCIPLINAIRES

Malgré le contexte sanitaire, près d’un tiers (50) des participantes et participants sont venus de l’étranger, avec pas moins de quinze pays européens représentés ! À noter la présence, parmi les participantes et participants, de 12 personnes provenant d’universités membres de l’alliance UNITA dont l’USMB fait partie.

Au-delà de leur pays d’origine, le profil des inscrits était varié puisqu’il s’agissait aussi bien d’enseignantes-chercheuses et enseignants-chercheurs que de personnels administratifs et techniques. Parmi les participantes et participants de l’USMB, une quinzaine de composantes et de services étaient représentés.

Autant de données qui illustrent la diversité de l’audience et répondent à l’objectif de proposer une formation s’adressant à un maximum de profils universitaires.

Le programme, axé autour de l’apprentissage des langues, était également ponctué de moments de partage et de découvertes : visites d’Annecy, randonnée dans le massif des Bauges, ou encore la possibilité de se rendre à Chamonix et à l’Aiguille du midi !

Ce nouveau format de la Quinzaine des langues a suscité un fort engouement et vise à être pérennisé.

Gracias al proyecto UNITA, todos conocemos ya en mayor o menor medida qué es la intercomprensión y las ventajas que tiene conocer y usar ciertas estrategias para entender mejor a hablantes de otras lenguas romances. Sin embargo, hay algo más que todavía podemos hacer todos cuando hablamos o escribirnos. Podemos adaptar o modificar nuestra producción, de tal modo que resulte más comprensible para nuestros interlocutores: es la llamada interproducción.

Hoy os traemos algunas claves que pueden ayudar a que vuestros textos en español, orales o escritos, sean más sencillos de comprender por hablantes de portugués, italiano, francés o rumano, entre otros.

1. Utiliza frases cortas: es fácil perder el sentido de las frases largas.
2. Utiliza habitualmente el orden de palabras sujeto + verbo + complementos. En español el orden de las palabras dentro de la oración puede variar bastante, pero si mantenemos siempre ese orden, que es similar al de otras lenguas derivadas del latín, a nuestro interlocutor le simplificamos la tarea de tener que organizar dentro de su cabeza el discurso.

       3. Debes ser muy ordenado. Organiza tu discurso y no mezcles ideas. Si el texto es escrito, recuerda la fórmula 1 idea = 1 párrafo. Si el texto es oral, haz pausas entre cada idea o tema.

        4. No te preocupes si tu texto es redundante. La repetición de información en un texto académico no es recomendable, pero si tu objetivo es ser comprendido, no hay problema. No se trata de repetir la misma palabra, sino de encontrar formas distintas de comunicar lo mismo. Puedes aportar sinónimos o también puedes dar una breve explicación. Por ejemplo: “Mañana, martes, 5 de julio, podemos concertar una tutoría o una cita en mi despacho, es decir, en mi oficina, donde trabajo habitualmente y donde tengo el ordenador”. De este modo, si nuestro interlocutor no entiende “mañana”, le hemos dado más información como “martes, 5 de julio”. Además, hemos proporcionado sinónimos como “cita” u “oficina” y hemos dado una breve explicación de lo que sería “despacho”. Esta estrategia resulta muy útil cuando hablamos del tiempo cronológico: si hablamos del pasado o del futuro, aparte de conjugar el tiempo respectivamente en pasado o en futuro, es conveniente añadir otros complementos con información temporal, como los adverbios. Así, por ejemplo: “viví en Portugal cuando era pequeño / hace diez años / cuando yo tenía nueve años”. U otro ejemplo: “viviré en Italia el año próximo / dentro de cinco años / cuando tenga treinta años”.

       5. Cuando sea posible, utiliza vocabulario internacional o panromance, esto es, palabras que estén extendidas por todo el mundo o por la mayor parte de las lenguas romances. Como ejemplos de léxico internacional tenemos: música, hotel, radio, internet, alcohol, horror… Como ejemplos de léxico panromance tenemos muchos más: Universidad, amigo, necesidad, bueno, gato, fuerte, inferencia, transparente, optar, practicar… En ocasiones podemos elegir qué termino utilizar, y así optar por el más transparente. Por ejemplo, es mejor usar comprender en lugar de entender, es suficiente en lugar de basta con, profesor en lugar de docente o enseñante, film en lugar de película, hablar más fuerte en lugar de hablar más alto, frecuentemente en lugar de a menudo, o incluso en lugar de en lugar de en vez de .

       6. Claro, podrás decir que no conoces todo ese léxico compartido, pero para eso también tenemos respuesta. En primer lugar, poco a poco irás conociendo más, pues la práctica es imprescindible. En segundo lugar, aprovecha todo lo que tengas a tu alcance. Por ejemplo, si sabes algo, aunque sea poco, de otra lengua romance, úsala como lengua puente. Por ejemplo, en español es más habitual la construcción pelo rizado frente a pelo ondulado, pero si sabes que en francés es ondulé, puedes optar por ese ondulado. También en español tenemos los sinónimos parecido y similar; si sabes que en italiano existe la palabra similare, ya sabrás que hay más probabilidades de que tu interlocutor te entienda si utilizas similar.

        7. Existen algunos prefijos comunes a todas las lenguas del proyecto UNITA. Por ejemplo, sub- (subterráneo), semi- (semifinales), ultra- (ultramoderno), multi- (multicultural), trans- (transponer), pseudo- (pseudónimo), homo- (homogéneo), etc. Eso significa que si queremos decir “debajo de la tierra” o “debajo del agua”, podemos usar perfectamente las palabras subterráneo y subacuático y seguro que nos entenderán, a pesar de que las sintamos como “más cultas”. También podemos usar las creaciones ultracaro o ultrabonito y seguro que nuestro interlocutor sabrá que nos referimos a ese adjetivo caro o bonito en grado extremo. Es decir, no debemos tener miedo a crear o incluso inventar palabras con estos prefijos para hacernos entender.

         8. No utilices expresiones o frases hechas. A pesar de que algunas de las construcciones fijas que en español usamos puedan ser compartidas por otras lenguas romances, estas suelen tener un componente sociocultural muy fuerte que muchas veces no es común entre países.

         9. No olvides que la comunicación es mucho más que palabras, así que echa mano de los gestos cuando estés hablando o de señales o figuras cuando estés escribiendo.

         10. Por último, una breve reflexión: quizá el resultado de tu producción no sea natural, fluido o elegante, pues tienes que dar rodeos, repetir palabras, inventarlas, cambiar el orden natural del discurso, pero… ¿a quién le importa? En interproducción lo primordial es hacerse entender.

The members of the UNITA Renewable Energies Scientific Hub met in person in Chambéry, France on the 21st and 22nd of July. This two-day event was dedicated to designing the structure and organization of the Hub for the coming years as well as planning the upcoming scientific workshop that will take place in October 2021 in Covilhã, Portugal.

During two days, the researchers have exchanged their opinions and ideas on how to build the Scientific Hub on Renewable Energies which includes different topics such as: solar energy, geothermal, bioenergy, or socio-economic, legal and educational aspects of renewable energies. During the working sessions, the members could brainstorm and suggest plenty of ideas from summer schools and workshops organization to PhD student’s mobility, common training modules for and through research and other exploratory projects.

The participants looked at all the projects that had already been carried out during the past 9 months and reinforced their wish to collaborate to foster research in the framework of the UNITA alliance.

The members of UNITA team at the Pau University were very pleased to host on July 6^th the first meeting of UNITA’s Cultural Heritage Scientific Committee. The one-day meeting allowed researchers in the interdisciplinary field of Cultural Heritage – one of the three main thematic areas of UNITA – to exchange on different projects carried out within our consortium. These projects range from exploratory initiatives to well-advanced programs in heritage landscapes, contemporary art, conservation technology, oral history, infrastructural heritage, rural environments, museum outreach, (in)tangible heritage, and many other exciting and innovative topics.

The Cultural Heritage Scientific Committee meeting also allowed us to finalize the organization and design of UNITA’s future Research and Innovation Hubs, that will be launched officially in the upcoming months. We were able to discuss possible strategies to make this particular Cultural Heritage Hub as responsive and competitive as possible in terms of funding possibilities, such as the European Commission’s new Horizon Europe program. Finally, the meeting was an opportunity to plan the future roundtables to be held in Torino mid-October 2021. We look forward to this date to see everyone present at Pau again, to meet many other colleagues from the six universities, to learn about each other’s research interests, to organize future collaborations, and, last but not least, to launch UNITA’s Cultural Heritage Research and Innovation Hub.

Thanks again to all of those who participated at the Pau meeting and see you soon in Torino!