The Universidad Europea del Atlántico (European Atlantic University, UNEATLANTICO) and the Fundación Universitaria Iberoamericana (Ibero-American University Foundation, FUNIBER) participated in the II Iberian Internationalization Meeting, Vigo, which brought together specialists and university leaders from Spain and Portugal with the aim of strengthening bilateral cooperation in the field of higher education.
Representing the university were Dr. Roberto Ruiz, Vice-Rector of International Relations, Jesús Peña, secretary general of the university; and Dr. F. Álvaro Durántez, professor at UNEATLANTICO and director of the FUNIBER Chair of Ibero-American Studies and Iberophony.
The meeting, organized by the Spanish Service for the Internationalization of Higher Education (SEPIE) in collaboration with the University of Vigo and the Consorcio de la Zona Franca de Vigo, took place over two days and brought together more than one hundred professionals linked to the sector. During this meeting, the main current and future challenges were addressed, such as attracting international talent, new forms of bilateral cooperation, the crucial role of the Erasmus+ programme, and the strategic positioning of Spanish and Portuguese as academic and scientific languages..
Dr. Durántez spoke at a round table on collaboration in the field of Iberophony, where the strategic role of Spanish and Portuguese was discussed from universities in both countries. The director of the Cátedra Funiber de Estudios Iberoamericanos y de la Iberofonía made a general presentation of the process of articulation of the space of the Ibero-American and the geostrategic relationship between the countries of Spanish and Portuguese language as well as the characteristics of relationship between the two languages.
The UNEATLANTICO teacher shared a table with Ms. Mercedes Alvarez, Head of Studies at the Language Centre of the University of Vigo; D. Manuel Célio Conceição, from the Universidade Algarve; and Ms. Antónia Estrela, director of the Centre for Languages and Culture at the Lisbon Polytechnic Institute. The table was moderated by Mr. Paulo Almeida, head of the Communication team of the National Agency for Education and Training in Portugal.
The presence of UNEATLANTICO in this forum makes it possible to strengthen its commitment to international projection, as well as to establish contacts and synergies with key institutions and bodies in Spain and Portugal.