200 million citizens—30% of the Europe’s population—live, work and study in Europe’s border regions. Their existence is enriched by linguistic and cultural diversity, by labour market- and educational opportunities. They also suffer setbacks due to their peripheral position in geographic and political terms. 9 universities in 4 of those cross-border regions, involving 100 000 students and 10 000 staff members, have decided to set up “Across - The European University for cross-border knowledge sharing” and received the Seal of Excellence in 2023. Across partners pool their knowledge and experience to help improve chances for students, (non)academic staff, citizens, businesses and regional authorities, focusing on: 1. Economic and social development 2. Culture, identity and heritage 3. Management of natural resources 4. Education in cross-border context We want Across to become a world-class reference on innovative border regions, creating knowledge, informing learners, practitioners and decision-makers in the public and private sector, in Europe and beyond. We will manage our alliance in an agile manner, empowering 16 expert task teams and involving students and external stakeholders at all levels. In terms of education, research and innovation in cross-border regions, we will achieve the highest impact through: - eCampus system - Innovative learning offers - Learning experiences with mobility across borders - R&I agenda and projects built on open data/science - Across Graduate school - Across Border Engagement Centres: Challenge Teams, Across Incubator Network, University-Business Gateway - Across Think Tank We expect tens of thousands of students, thousands of staff and tens of thousands of lifelong learners to benefit from the Across learning experience, R&I results and outreach activities, not least through the Across eCampus, our online micro-credentials and the Across Atomic Learning Units (smallest learning outcome-based academic experiences).