Creating Value for the Wider Higher Education Sector: Insights from the FOREU4ALL Session

The FOREU4ALL team recently gathered input from higher education institutions across Europe and beyond on how European Universities alliances can create value for the wider sector. The session, celebrated during the EAIE Conference in Gothenburg in September, revealed a strong commitment among institutions, both inside and outside alliances, to deepen cooperation, exchange practices, and scale up innovation in higher education.

Learning from European Universities Activities

Participants expressed great interest in learning from the experience of existing alliances, particularly in the areas of joint programmes, the European Degree Label, and micro-credentials. Institutions are eager to understand how to overcome legal and administrative barriers to developing joint degrees and to explore practical, scalable solutions such as Collaborative Online International Learning (COILs), Blended Intensive Programmes (BIPs), and Knowledge Creating Teams (KTCs).

There is also growing attention to lifelong learning, digitalisation, and inclusive mobility, with participants calling for frameworks that make participation easier and more equitable for students and staff alike.

Topics of Common Interest

Several priority themes emerged from the discussion:

• Simplifying joint and double degree management while ensuring recognition across systems.
• Developing interoperable IT tools and digital platforms to connect universities more efficiently.
• Improving mobility models, especially for people with special needs, through inclusive and flexible protocols.
• Integrating research and innovation into educational offers, promoting researcher communities and shared infrastructures.
• Ensuring financial, environmental, and human resources sustainability as alliances mature.
• Fostering diversity, inclusion, and equal access as guiding principles for future cooperation. 

Sharing Knowledge Across the Wider Higher Education Sector

Participants called for more structured and accessible ways to exchange expertise. Proposals included:

• Staff training, job shadowing, and peer learning opportunities, both online and in person.
• Digital repositories and toolboxes compiling good practices, templates, and case studies.
• Regular inter-alliance events, regional meetings, and webinars open to all HEIs.
• A centralised communication hub, offering newsletters and resources to share outcomes and experiences.

Such formats were seen as essential to make alliances’ experiences transferable and to strengthen excellence and innovation capacity across the European Higher Education Area. 

Added Value of Broader Collaboration

Engaging with alliances is perceived as a powerful way to:

• Enhance international visibility and strategic partnerships.
• Strengthen innovation and teaching quality through shared expertise.
• Provide access to transnational networks of students, researchers, and start-ups.
• Increase policy influence and social value creation at both regional and European levels.

Many attendees underlined that participating in alliances or associated initiatives offers a multiplier effect, since one collaboration can open doors to a network of multiple institutions across Europe.

Challenges to Address

Despite strong enthusiasm, several challenges remain. Institutions highlighted the need for:

• Simplified access to funding and more inclusive eligibility criteria for smaller or non-alliance partners.
• Dedicated human resources to manage cooperation activities.
• Streamlined administrative and legal processes for joint degrees and mobility.
• Clearer communication and coordination between alliances and external partners.
• Recognition of mutual benefits to sustain trust and engagement over time.

Participants agreed that overcoming these barriers requires continued dialogue, capacity-building, and shared commitment to openness.

Looking Ahead

The results of the session confirm that the European Universities Initiative has generated a strong wave of innovation and collaboration across borders. The next step is to ensure that these benefits extend beyond alliance members, supporting all higher education institutions in building capacity, excellence, and resilience.

FOREU4ALL will continue to facilitate this exchange through communities of practice, thematic workshops, and shared digital resources, helping make the achievements of European Universities accessible and useful to the entire higher education sector.