Redefining Euro-African relations, international project coordinated by UBB

The local university environment also has reasons for satisfaction. The Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca (UBB) won, as associate coordinator, the European project "Redefining Euro-African relations in the 21st century. Challenges and solutions for a fair, democratic and inclusive development", which aims to create a network of European and African universities with concerns in the field of international development. The network will include universities such as: the Free University of Brussels, the University of Ghent (Belgium), the University of Geneva (Switzerland), the University of Yaounde (Cameroon), the Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar (Senegal).

UBB's participation in the coordination of the project will be ensured through the African Studies Center of UBB (CESTAF), associated with the Afro-European Cluster of Excellence dedicated to "Sustainable Water and Land Resource Management for Human Well-Being). The cluster is part of a complex international approach, through which the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) and the GUILD are committed to boosting the role of science in the development of the African continent and in international efforts related to sustainable development. In the context of the new project, the rector of Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Prof. Univ. Dr. Daniel David, states that: "UBB's commitment to Africa is a serious and important one in today's world, carried out both through GUILD and directly, UBB already having two points of work and representation in Africa. This commitment is important both for Romania, as well as being part of the West's effort to integrate Africa and the academic environment there into the democratic world". Babeş-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca (UBB) is the university with the most complex academic profile in the country (by the number of programs and the multicultural character with three official academic languages: Romanian, Hungarian and German), with the oldest academic tradition in Romania (started 442 years ago - 1581), also representing the largest academic community in the country with over 50,000 people, from 15 localities and 11 counties.