When in Rome… Looking back and forward on one year of EU Peers!

Our third project meeting, held in Rome, coincided with the first birthday of EU Peers, which was a good opportunity for the consortium to look back and assess what we have implemented so far. We also planned the year ahead.

The first year - in which a lot happened behind the scenes until the kick-off in July 2024 - was incredibly full and rich! Here are just a few key points of our retrospective: 

EU Peers

• developed a Community charter 
• launched its website as a reference point for IHRS providers and their supporters 
• organised the first EU Peers summit in Brussels and launched the Community officially, which now has almost 150 members!
• partnered with many great institutions, including our ‘sister projects’
• presented the Community initiative on numerous occasions, such as Concerted Action EED, Covenant of Mayors Investment Forum, and a number of project conferences
• held > 12 national and transnational meetings for the EU Peers Community
• initiated a mapping of the European IHRS scene using an online survey  
• established an advisory board, which held its first meeting in September 2024 
• launched the Community intranet ‘Humhub’ (also with more than 100 individuals already)

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During our third project meeting, we also took a - sometimes critical - look at the status quo and the need for improvement:

• There is a good team spirit among the project partners and the support from CINEA is highly appreciated
• We will emphasise the benefits of membership for potential members of the community even more clearly.
• While the process of becoming a member is going relatively smoothly, we want to streamline communication and, above all, strengthen community participation!

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Furthermore, we worked on the tasks that lie ahead in the second year.

EU Peers 

• just now published a collection of success cases of OSS and other IHRS providers! 
• already launched a knowledge hub 
• but will also compile national knowledge repositories
• is excited to start a capacity building series and tailor-made mentoring for members! 
• continue to offer national and transnational meetings for the Community
• analyse and publish the results of our mapping of the IHRS landscape 
• organise the next summit in Brussels in Spring 2025

We would also like to support the formation of further national platforms - beyond the consortium, but with our active assistance! As you see, there is a lot in the pipeline and we are very much looking forward to intensive work, often together with you, in the second year of EU Peers.

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PS: When in Rome, of course we also tried to behave like Romans. With this in mind, the consortium was guided by ENEA to take part in a wonderful pasta cooking masterclass as a team!

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