In September 2014 Canterbury Christ Church University signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Centre International de Formation Européenne (CIFE), a French education institution with headquarters in Nice and further offices in Berlin, Brussels and Istanbul.

CCCU and CIFE have been working together since 2012 in organising the summer school on Federalism, Multinationalism and the Future of Europe,

which our Senior Lecturer Dr Soeren Keil jointly coordinates with CIFE’s Deputy General Director, Mr Frederic Lepine. In addition to three successful summer schools since 2012, CIFE and CCCU also joined forces in 2013 to organise an international research workshop, which took place at Howfield Manor in Charham. The resulting publication “Small Worlds: Constituent Units in Federal States and Federal Political Systems” was published in CIFE’s in-house journal L’Europe en Formation and is available here.

The Memorandum of Understanding details plans for CIFE and CCCU to continue their successful cooperation in organising the summer school and also opens the door for further research and teaching cooperation. In mid-September 2014 a delegation of CIFE representatives visited CCCU’s North Holmes Campus to discuss further options for cooperation in the future. The Politics and International Relations team has been at the forefront of establishing and enhancing Christ Church’s partnership with this well-respected French partner. We hope that the foundation for a number of future initiatives is laid through the Memorandum of Understanding.