European Universities Alliances: The Beating Heart of Europe’s Future

While the European Universities’ initiative is celebrating it’s 6-year anniversary this autumn, European Universities alliances are shaping the future of higher education and innovation in Europe. Today, more than 70 alliances connect over 600 universities across 35 countries, engaging 2.200 public and private partners and representing more than half of Europe’s student population. Together, they experiment, innovate, and pioneer new ways of creating, circulating, and sharing knowledge across borders.

As negotiations for the next EU budget cycle (MFF) develop, European Universities alliances remain essential for achieving the EU’s ambitions for competitiveness, the European Research Area (ERA), the European Education Area (EEA), and the Union of Skills.

Alliances can accomplish what single universities could not achieve alone. They offer scalable approaches that reflect the diversity of Europe’s institutions, its students, and the societies they serve.

In the words of Beatrix Busse, the FOREU4ALL Chair: “European Universities Alliances practice deep cooperation in a way that has never been done before, we are also a model for how Europe can flourish in the future.”

Remarkable results have been achieved since the launch of the European Universities initiative in 2019, which demonstrate the transformative potential of working together. Key takeaways that show its scale and ambition can be found in the European Commission’s report Outcomes and transformational potential of the European Universities initiative. Updated data has also been collected by FOREU4ALL in November 2025, with responses from 59 alliances to the dedicated survey.

• Over 1000 real-life societal challenges addressed in collaboration with over 1000 external stakeholders
• 300+ joint study programmes and 2300+ joint courses, including 100+ joint degrees and 800+ courses leading to micro-credentials developed by the alliances
• More than 300 entrepreneurship-related courses, supporting entrepreneurship and start-up creation.
• 570+ courses co-created with external stakeholders.

Greater collaboration is essential to strengthen Europe’s long-term ability to innovate and compete at a global scale as well as reduce disparities and promote excellence and inclusivity. European Universities alliances stand out as strategic instruments to achieve these goals.

Further information

Read the related article at News Tank Academic, with and Beatrix Busse, FOREU4ALL Chair, and Olga Wessels, FOREU4ALL Coordinator, here.

 Photo © European Union, 2018