ACA members, OeAD, Austria's Agency for Education and Internationalisation, and Nuffic, the Dutch organisation for internationalisation in education, have jointly published the “Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programmes. Basic Toolkit“ to support higher education institutions (HEIs) in successfully implementing Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programmes (BIPs). The toolkit addresses the entire life cycle of a BIP and provides tips and tricks for planning, designing, preparing, and implementing them. It is primarily aimed at Erasmus+ coordinators who deal with the administrative aspects of a BIP and teaching staff who organise and implement the hybrid courses. 

BIPs combine virtual teaching and learning with short periods of mobility. This enables meaningful encounters between participants from at least three European HEIs. In this way, students, and university staff, for whom a longer stay abroad might not have been possible, can participate in an intercultural exchange. 

The toolkit draws on practical experience of teaching staff and representatives of International Relation Offices from HEIs. To gather as diverse perspectives as possible, staff representing different sectors of HE and institutions of differing sizes and with varying amounts of experience in organising BIPs were interviewed. In addition, an online survey addressed to students themselves was conducted, aiming to learn about their experiences with BIPs. International Offices of HEIs in Austria and the Netherlands were pivotal for the promotion of the survey among students.  

The toolkit was presented at a peer learning activity at OeAD's premises on 14 May 2024 gathering participants from Austria, Croatia and the Netherlands. Later this year, OeAD will publish more detailed results of the student survey conducted. 

Download the “Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programmes. Basic Toolkit” here. 

The toolkit, survey and the peer learning activity were funded by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Science and Research as well as the Erasmus+ KA3 project ‘INterconnection/INnovation/INclusion: Austrian contributions to the EHEA 2030 – 3-IN-AT-PLUS’.