European Universities Initiative faces many barriers

Since its implementation in 2019, the European Universities Initiative (EUI) has seen the launch of two pilot phases that have led to the emergence of 41 university alliances re-grouping 284 higher education institutions across the European Union (EU) and Erasmus+-participating countries.

EU institutions have highlighted the experimental nature of the initiative with the alliances successively presented as ‘bottom-up networks’ or ‘test beds’, expected to resolve some of the biggest issues in transnational cooperation in higher education and create ‘European Universities’.

Beyond previous European higher education initiatives focused on mobility (Erasmus) or degree harmonisation (Bologna Process), the EUI is to foster transnational institutions that will transform the European higher education landscape and create the ‘universities of the future’.

Achieving seamless transnational cooperation between higher education institutions in the EU is not so easy. There are still many obstacles to overcome for the development of joint degrees or achieving financially sustainable entities that can act more autonomously and not strictly rely on EU project funding from Erasmus+ and Horizon.

More information: https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=2022011110355163