Menu Close
  • ENGAGE.EU
  • News
  • News
  • The ENGAGE.EU Annual Conference in Rome Celebrated Three Years of Work and Kicked-off the New Funding Phase of the Alliance

The ENGAGE.EU Annual Conference in Rome Celebrated Three Years of Work and Kicked-off the New Funding Phase of the Alliance


Luiss University hosted the regular ENGAGE.EU annual conference to both celebrate third anniversary of the Alliance and kick-off the new funding period starting today, November 1. The conference took place between October 25-27 in Rome at the piece-of-art facilities of one of the founding members of ENGAGE.EU.

The main goals of the work sessions were to define the key outputs since the beginning of the project and to plan and set the path for all new initiatives aimed at the various stakeholders, focusing on the three main pillars – learning, research and innovation, and societal outreach.

The first day was an introduction to the topics of the Conference in preparation for the main sessions on Thursday and Friday, which are dedicated to the achievements and milestones of the project, as well as a discussion of the prospective long-term cooperation among the nine partner universities.

The main day, Thursday, started with a warm welcome from the hosts the activities began with the plenary session “Europe in Transformative Times: Mobilize and Accelerate on Higher Education for Sustainability”, moderated by Dr. Alessandra Galloni, Editor in Chief of Reuters. You can see a full recording of the opening and the session which were streamed live during the event.

The afternoon was animated by parallel working sessions about the next phase of ENGAGE.EU.

Plenary session keynote speakers:

Marcela Villarreal, Food and Agriculture Organization, Director of Partnerships and UN Collaboration (PSU)

Pietro Bertazzi (Luiss alumnus), CDP, Global Director, Policy Engagement & External Affairs

Enrico Giovannini, ASVIS Scientific Director, professor of Economic Statistics and former Minister of Sustainable Infrastructures and Mobility and Minister of Labour and Social Policies

Francesco La Camera (online) Director General of the International Renewable Energy Agency

Hanyuan (Karen) Wang CEO of Climind, SDG Young Leader recognized by United Nations

Lars-Henrik Paarup Michelsen, CEO of the Norwegian Climate Foundation and Chair of the ENGAGE.EU Advisory Board

The third day, Friday, started with a plenary session on the topic of “Bridges between the University and its local ecosystem”. The activities on the agenda were dedicated to the successful dissemination of the project as a teamwork session outlined the main outputs, stakeholders, and added value of the various ENGAGE.EU initiatives.

The Rector of Luiss University Andrea Prencipe said during the closing ceremony: “We have built a community around ENGAGE.EU, we feel a great sense of belonging. I think each of us has a role in this project that marks the sense of being a community working toward a common goal“.

During the official dinner on Thursday a special slideshow was played on the screens with some of the most memorable moments from the past three years: