Make students partners in European university alliances

International networks can set new standards for engagement, says Stinne Vognæs

The EU’s European Universities Initiative is one of the union’s key policies for building the higher education institutions of the future. Launched in 2019 and funded through the Erasmus+ programme, there are now 50 of these bottom-up international alliances, involving more than 430 institutions. 

Along with other benefits, such alliances represent an opportunity to set new standards for student engagement in higher education, collaborating with students to reshape university structures and approaches to international collaboration. But engaging students can be challenging, even in individual institutions. Many universities have large, diverse student bodies, and their campuses are often widely spread, sometimes across multiple cities.