ACA has officially signed a new contract to carry out Lot 2 of the European Commission’s Erasmus Mundus Global Promotion Project (GPP). The first integrated attempt to bolster the attractiveness of Europe as a destination of higher education, this project aims to 1) improve availability and accessibility of information on European study opportunities, and 2) enhance the professional capacity of Europe to proactively promote itself as a destination of higher education.

To realise these goals, the GPP will use various modalities, including developing and marketing a European brand in higher education, constructing media campaigns, and sponsoring global education fairs. ACA, with the help of its members and subcontractor JWT Education, will assume a series of studies within the framework of this project, addressing primarily ‘Innovative Services for international study’. This will entail:

• feasibility study for the potential launch of an online information service (call centre) for European higher education;
• a comprehensive study of the existing networks of promoters and national information offices in higher education with recommendations for the potential development of specific information offices on study in Europe;
• a pilot project in a target country (Mexico), based on the outcomes and recommendations of the networks of promoters study;

• a study of current trends in transnational education (TNE) – offshore courses and campuses, and distance learning with a sequential international conference on this topic.