This meeting brings together representatives from each member institution and is held twice a year. The 22nd edition has been held at the URV as part of our 25th anniversary celebrations, on 18 and 19 September. The URV has also participated for the 7th consecutive year in the International Student Seminar organised by the network in conjunction with Hiroshima University

A total 21 representatives from 11 of the 13 universities that make up the International Network of Universities attended the two days of meetings at Tarragona. During the meeting the representatives discussed existing projects such as the seminar for students at Hiroshima, the Staff Shadowing programme and the Seed Money Fund as well as new initiatives such as the URV research group CECOS, which aims to collaborate with other researchers in the network on the topic of refugees and global migrations, the student conference organised by the UNPAR in Indonesia and the collaborative project between nursing faculties, in which the URV’s own Faculty of Nursing is also involved.

On the first day the meeting was held at the Monastery of Poblet. It was followed by a lunch hosted by the rector of the URV, Josep Anton Ferré, and a guided tour of the monastery during which the visitors were greeted by the abbot Octavi Vilà. On the second day the meeting was held at the URV’s Catalunya Campus to allow the representatives to gain first-hand experience of the student atmosphere. Both meetings were also attended by the URV’s Vice-Rector for Internationalisation, Mar Gutiérrez-Colón, and two representatives of the International Center.

In a separate but related event, as in the last 6 years, the URV once again participated in the INU International Student Seminar held at Hiroshima University from 4 to 12 August. This year the seminar theme was the “Rights of indigenous populations in a global context” and it was attended by more than 80 undergraduate and postgraduate students and 12 members of the teaching and research staff from the various institutions in the INU. The URV was represented by one professor from the Faculty of Legal Sciences, two undergraduate students and one postgraduate student.

Under the slogan of the “Network for Global Engagement”, the International Network of Universities (INU) is a global consortium comprised of higher education institutions that actively seek international partnerships and experiences, create innovative programming and delivery methods, and embrace the internationalization movement.