The year 2025 was a particularly rich one for ACA, with many accomplishments to be both poud of and grateful for, in terms of (a) internal capacity-enhancement (through meaningful collaborative endeavours with our member organisations), (b) insightful knowledge outputs (through multiple studies and publications), (c) enhanced external engagements (through multiple own and other high-impact events) and (d) partnership development (through the deepening of existing and launch of new collaborations).  

Writing a proper recap is particularly challenging in such busy years, when doing justice to the great variety of activities carried out – each with its specific and valuable contribution to the association’s overall impact – is close to mission impossible. 

Yet, as we look back, a few things stand out. 

A first strand of work that stands out relates to ACA’s contributions to related EU policy and programme developments.  

At the European Union (EU) policy level the year was marked by the lead-up to the European Commission’s much awaited publication (in July 2025) of the Draft Regulation on the next Erasmus+ programme (2028-2034), and by significant stakeholder mobilisation. Hundreds of hours of member consultations, discussions, drafting and improvements, as well as exchanges with other higher education stakeholders, translated into three related policy papers delivered in February, May – both amply discussed at ACA’s 2025 Advocacy Event: The future of Europe = the future of Erasmus+ – and in November. This was all done with the belief and hope that the ideas therein will help secure an ambitious, balanced, inclusive and well-funded programme, enabling it to remain the true flagship of the EU for its citizens. 

In addition to the above, and thanks to ACA’s own (and co-organised) events, as well as to enhanced representation at various other high-level gatherings, the year was also one of significant external visibility for the association and its members. It’s not just the sheer number of events where ACA was centrally involved, but also the significance of the topics addressed, that make the year particularly important for us. Crucial were the leadership exchanges in the framework of the Transatlantic Roundtable – Reinforcing Transatlantic Ties Through Higher Education Cooperation (co-organised by DAAD and IIE, with ACA, ANE+EF and FLAD, simply a must during such geopolitically challenging times. So were the exchanges at the EU Policy Event & Western Balkans Contact-Building Seminar in Tirana, Albania, with participants from the region, events organised on behalf of the European Commission and EACEA under the Study in Europe initiative. The financial sustainability of joint programmes, another salient topic, was addressed at length at The sustainability of Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters conference, led by the DAAD Brussels office, with ACA offering content-related support, under the Erasmus Mundus Support Initiative (EMSI). The year also enabled ACA to deepen cooperation with CZELO (DZS), NorCore (HK-dir) and SwissCore (Movetia) in the format of EduCafé events. Final conferences marked the successful completion of years of insightful work in important projects such as the Inclusion ACAdemy, ECEM and HIBLend. 

Further, while the six Thematic Peer Groups (TPGs) remain the cornerstone of ACA’s work with member organisations, enhanced cooperation in the form of member-led joint projects and studies propelled the ACA Secretariat’s collaboration with many member organisations, as well as between member organisations, to a new level. Important analyses on the economic impact of Erasmus+ incoming students on five host countries (initiated by AMEUP), on the needs of higher education institutions participating in European University Alliances from national actors and particularly National Agencies (for Erasmus+) (initiated by CMEPIUS and to be released in January 2026), a practical guide on how to create the role of inclusion officer at institutional level (initiated by AMEUP), and the mapping of the internationalisation strategy landscape across the EHEA (marking an enhanced strategic collaboration with the EAIE) encapsulate ACA’s solid contribution in 2025 to advancing knowledge on multiple aspects of international cooperation in higher education. 

As we fondly look back at 2025, we are particularly grateful for the extremely fruitful and professional collaborations with ACA members, and for the significant time they commit to exchanging and growing within the association, for the dedication of ACA’s Secretariat staff, always eager to do more and deliver value to the association and our sector, and for our growing number of strategic partners, that help us further develop and amplify our footprint in advancing our field.  

Thank you for this wonderful, and certainly very ambitious, year! 

And as we look ahead to an exciting 2026, we are eager to continue building on the policy momentum and on our ehncanced cooperation with ACA members and important stakeholders in our field. The first opportunity to catch up with the ACA Secretariat team in 2026 is at ACA’s flagship seminar – What’s new in Brussels? Recent developments on European Policies and programmes, scheduled for 29-30 January 2026 in Brussels (registrations filling up fast).  

We hope to meet you soon into the New Year, after a refreshing winter break, wishing you happy holidays and a smooth glide into a rewarding 2026!