USAMV Cluj-Napoca, founding member of the European University Alliance EU GIFT, together with higher education institutions from Spain, France, Hungary, Portugal, Germany, Italy, Hungary and Portugal

USAMV Cluj-Napoca is a founding member of the Alliance of European Universities EU GIFT (European University for Geographical Identity as a driver for Food systems Transition to sustainability), through the project no. 101176959 ERASMUS-EDU-2024-EUR-UNIV, funded by the European Commission.

The consortium includes Universidad de la Rioja – Spain, Ecole Nationale Superieure des Sciences Agronomiques de Bordeaux Aquitaine – France, Eszterhazy Karoly Katolikus Egyetem – Hungary, Hochschule Geisenheim – Germany, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca – Romania, Universidade de Tras-os-Montes e Alto Douro – Portugal, Universita degli Studi di Verona – Italy.

The University of La Rioja hosted the EU-GIFT alliance launch meeting on May 5-7, 2025 with the seven participating universities. The events organized in Logroño and Haro were attended by around twenty representatives from the seven European campuses to promote the different areas of activity of EU-GIFT, an alliance that brings together more than 56,000 students and 5,800 academic and management staff.

The delegation of our university was composed of Prof. Cornel Cătoi – Rector and member of the Steering Committee; Prof. Andrea Bunea – member of the Quality Committee and Prof. Elena Mudura – member of the Managing Committee.

The program of the sessions included the presentation of the opportunities offered by the EU-GIFT project to companies in the sector and regional partners of the initiative. The events were also attended by the President of the Government of La Rioja, Gonzalo Capellán, the Mayor of Logroño, Conrado Escobar, and the Vice-rector for Science Policy of the UR, Eduardo Fonseca.

The project director from USAMV Cluj-Napoca is the Dean of the Faculty of Food Science and Technology – Prof. Dr. Elena Mudura.

EU-GIFT is committed to being at the forefront of promoting sustainable and competitive food systems rooted in the geographical identity of the European Union, by establishing environmentally friendly, healthy and equitable food production systems and supply chains, ensuring ample opportunities for all actors in the agri-food chain in the future.