Three European university alliances — EMERGE, EUNICoast and YUFE —are actively working with tools and approaches developed through the Community-Engagement.eu platform to strengthen their community engagement strategies.  

European university alliances are increasingly becoming important spaces for advancing community engagement in higher education. By bringing together institutions across countries, regions and communities, they can test new approaches, share tools and support institutional change at a scale that goes beyond individual universities. 

• The EMERGE alliance offers a particularly strong example of this shift. EMERGE does not treat societal engagement simply as an outcome of teaching and research. Instead, it describes societal engagement as its “first mission”. In this framing, engagement with territories and communities is not an additional activity added to the traditional missions of education and research. Partner universities of the EMERGE alliance is applying the TEFCE Toolbox as a framework to map its current engagement performance and plan improvements.  

• The EUNICoast alliance is also working to embed community engagement as an area of institutional development. Its member universities are using evidence-based reflection, mapping and planning tools to assess their existing community engagement practices and develop action plans for future improvement. This approach places emphasis not only on showcasing good examples, but also on identifying gaps, setting priorities and creating follow-up mechanisms that can make community engagement more sustainable. Partner universities of the EUNICOAST alliance is applying about the TEFCE Toolbox and SHEFCE action-planning methodology as basis for advancing their communtiy engagement.  

• The YUFE alliance provides a third model, based on shared values and alliance-level commitment. Its Community Engagement Declaration 2025–2030 positions community engagement as a transversal principle across the alliance’s activities. It links community engagement to YUFE’s broader ambition to develop a student-centred, open and inclusive European University, while encouraging universities to work with communities in ways that generate meaningful societal impact. 

These examples show that European university alliances are not only expanding community engagement as an activity. They are also helping to give it strategic and institutional form. By using common tools, developing shared commitments and supporting action planning across institutions, alliances can help move community engagement from the margins of university life towards the centre of institutional strategy.