EUniWell welcomes Inalco
The European University for Well-Being (EUniWell) is delighted to welcome the Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales (Inalco) at Paris as a new member joining the alliance. The long-term goal of EUniWell is to sustainably promote the well-being of all people through comprehensive research, innovative teaching as well as social responsibility. With Inalco, the alliance now counts more than 330,000 students and almost 60,000 university staff members among its international network.
Inalco is distinguished by the great diversity of its teaching and research in languages, social sciences and the humanities. Rooted in the study of over 100 languages and the corresponding cultures and societies, it is the only public higher education and research institution in the world to offer such a wide range of expertise in language-based area studies and global studies from the bachelor to the doctoral level. Around one-third of all currently active French diplomats have studied at Inalco. “As a linguist, I am especially pleased to welcome the Inalco University to our alliance. With the addition of Inalco to EUniWell, we further emphasise that working in different European and global cultures, in different languages and across borders is essential for the promotion of well-being. In our proven co-creative collaboration, Inalco will contribute decisively to our goal of increasing individual, societal well-being and protecting the environment, as well as developing EUniWell as the ‘Voice for Well-Being’,” says EUniWell Chief Development Officer Professor Beatrix Busse.
Professor Jean François Huchet, President of Inalco explains: “A systemic approach to well-being requires the ability to understand the underlying cultural component, be it on an individual, societal or world level. For example, in the areas of health, education, urbanisation, the environment or global governance. We are also very much looking forward to contributing to the building of a transversal axis on area studies and to increasing the visibility of EUniWell to our non-European partners.”
The Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales (Inalco)
Founded in 1795 and located in the heart of Paris, Inalco is a research university specialising in language-based Area Studies and Global Studies. It offers over 9,000 students Bachelors, Masters and PhD programmes in the social sciences, based on the study of over 100 languages and a deep understanding of their respective cultures and societies. Inalco’s 14 research centres lead research programmes on around 450 languages. The University thus advocates a differentiated education and research model in which languages are at the same time tools to access people, data, knowledge, and indissociable parts of a society’s culture and socio-political organisation. Inalco is driven by a commitment to student-centred and global well-being through mutual understanding in a plural world, in line with EUniWell’s commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
By joining EUniWell, Inalco will strengthen its role as a leading European research university in the field of language-based area studies, with ambitious projects such as the implementation of a European Institute for “Lesser-Used” Languages, the development of a European doctoral programme in area studies, and the setting up of multilingual observatories to foster comparative studies on contemporary social, political and strategic issues.
EUniWell's addition of Inalco will enable the alliance to conduct future-proof regional and global studies grounded in research on original language sources, thereby benefiting from Inalco's engagement with various non-European regions. Inalco's experience of working with institutional and civic partners will contribute to the preservation of regional cultural knowledge and heritage, especially in the light of the increasing difficulty in gaining access to many regions. In addition, the new thematic arena on “multilingualism and multiculturalism” will further strengthen EUniWell's engagement in these dimensions.
Background: the European University for Well-Being
EUniWell is one of currently 44 European University Alliances, funded by the EU Commission with the aim of achieving a European Education Area in which learning, studying and researching across national borders is a matter of course. EUniWell was launched in 2020 in the second pilot phase of the European Universities Initiative. The Alliance pursues a holistic, knowledge-based and action-oriented approach to well-being, in response to the call of the Council of the European Union to the Member States to promote the ‘Economy of Wellbeing’, a virtuous cycle between society, economy and the environment, leading to greater well-being across those dimensions. The core mission of EUniWell is to understand, improve, measure, and rebalance the well-being of individuals, our own community, and society as a whole based on our joint values – democratic, inclusive, diverse, research and challenge-based, inter- and transdisciplinary, entrepreneurial, and co-creational.
As new partner of the European University for Well-Being, Inalco joins the Universities of Birmingham, Cologne, Florence, Konstanz and Murcia, Linnaeus University, Nantes Université, the University of Santiago de Compostela, Semmelweis University, and Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.
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