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The European Universities Initiative has gained substantial momentum since its launch in 2019, with 65 alliances now formally active across the Europe, and with eight others holding the Seal of Excellence. While progress has been made in the institutional cooperation within the alliances, the development of innovative learning pathways, the piloting of new mobility schemes, and the development of joint programmes questions remain regarding the long-term sustainability of the initiative and the alignment of national and regional support mechanisms. These concerns were echoed in a 2023 study commissioned by the European Commission, which highlighted persistent funding gaps, regulatory obstacles, and the need for more coherent national support systems for transnational university cooperation (see ACA Newsletter – Education Europe, March 2023).
To address these challenges, the European Commission launched a call for proposals in December 2023 for EU action grants in the field of policy experimentation in education and training under the Erasmus+ Programme. The call targeted eligible organisations interested in exploring how to enhance the coherence of national/regional funding for alliances—complementing Erasmus+ and funding from other European programmes—as well as identifying and further removing persisting barriers.
The Future4Alliances consortium, bringing together nine partners under the coordination of Campus France, was recently selected under this call. The consortium also counts 23 associated partners from 13 countries, including national and regional ministries, National Agencies for Erasmus+ (including ACA members: EDUFI, HK-dir, Foundation Tempus, CMEPIUS as core partners and DAAD, Nuffic, Uni-Italia and Movetia as associated), and higher education institutions actively engaged in the EUI.
The project focuses on three priority themes:
To achieve its objectives, the consortium will facilitate in the period 2025-2028 a series of workshops—both virtual and in-person—as well as field visits and peer-learning activities. These are designed to support mutual exchange between public authorities and higher education stakeholders, and to explore how national and regional frameworks can be adapted to meet the evolving needs of the European Universities Alliances. Further to this, based on the evidence and good practices collected throughout the project, a set of policy recommendations will be developed and addressed to EU member states, the European Commission, the Alliances themselves, and other key stakeholders.