VMU joined the European Network of Inclusive Universities
Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) has become the first Lithuanian university to join an international network of universities that aims to promote the international mobility of students with disabilities and increase the ability of the university community to recognise and support the diversity of individual needs.
The European Network of Inclusive Universities (EUni4All-Network) is a project whose main aim is to bring together disability-inclusive universities on one platform. The virtual space makes it easier for students with disabilities to find and choose the university they want to go to as part of their exchange. The specially designed guide evaluates universities according to accessibility criteria and provides analysed information on the accessibility of each university for people with disabilities. VMU is the first and so far, the only Lithuanian higher education institution to join this network and to be rated with the highest accessibility mark. One of the key criteria for this rating was the VMU Disability Policy, which has been confirmed and implemented at the university, and which has opened the possibility for the university to join this network of European inclusive universities.
VMU Vice-Rector of Communications, Assoc. Prof. Vilma Bijeikienė, is glad that the University has been accepted into the European Network of Inclusive Universities, which also includes our Transform4Europe partner University of Trieste. “This is an important recognition of our activities and the professionalism of our staff working on inclusion. Diversity is an asset for VMU and the community, openness, personal and academic freedom are our core values. By consistently upholding them, we are achieving great results, including better recognition and support for the individual needs of students and staff, and better international mobility for people with individual needs.”
Assoc. Prof. Vilma Bijeikienė
VMU’s joining this network is part of the University’s aim to promote better participation of people with disabilities/individual needs in international mobility programmes and increase inclusiveness and diversity at the University. “We try to create reasonable accommodations and an environment that is appropriate to the individual needs of different people, where everyone is given equal opportunities to discover their potential, obtain knowledge and get a higher education. The opportunity to join the EUni4All-Network of Inclusive Universities shows that the VMU community is on the right way toward inclusive higher education,” said Miglė Janušauskaitė, Disability Coordinator at VMU.
Miglė Janušauskaitė
The European Network of Inclusive Universities (EUni4All-Network), led by a group of European entities and universities under the ERASMUS+ programme, intends to continue to expand the network of inclusive universities and increase their visibility. The project is organised by the European Disability Forum (EDF), the ONCE Foundation for the Inclusion of people with disabilities in Spain, and universities in five countries: the University of Eastern Finland, the University of the Study of Trieste (Italy), the Polytechnic University of Lublin (Poland), the University of Porto (Portugal), and the Spanish universities of Murcia, Autonomous of Madrid, and Seville.
