Mette Oftebro (coordinator of the Circle U. Erasmus+ project at the University of Oslo), Audrey Sullivan (Monitoring, evaluation and learning officer of Circle U.) and Kevin Guillaume (Secretary General of Circle U.) represented Circle U. at the two-day physical meeting in Brussels. From the enriching disucssions with colleagues of other alliances and the information provided and exchanged with the Commission, four take-home messages can be highlighted.
Alliances shape the future EU policy developments
Alliances are expected to play a crucial role in the future EU policy developments, in particular the so-called “higher education package” the Commission's Directorate General for Education and Culture (DG EAC) is currently working on. Three main topics are at the core of these upcoming developments:
- A blueprint for the future joint European degree, which will contribute to achieving a European Education Area;
- Recommendations on quality assurance in higher education (moving towards a European system for Quality Assurance and Recognition);
- Sustainable and attractive academic careers.
These topics are closely related to the current development of Circle U. For example, within the Knowledge Hub “Democracy”, academic chairs are working hard in setting up the first Circle U. joint master in public governance. And with this first joint programme, we are also testing our capacity as an alliance to facilitate the creation of other joint programmes and courses. In the same perspective, within the Open Campus, the Circle U. Dean, Prof. Eivind Engrebretsen, is leading the work on creating a Circle U. label for our future learning and teaching activities. Quality assurance and recognition are central to this ambition.
Future funding
Second key message from the meeting: the European Commission, in close cooperation with the alliance, is finalizing a proposal for the future funding (or “investment pathway”) of the alliances. While many aspects are still to be considered and will lead to discussions and negotiations at various levels, there is a clear commitment to define a predictable, sustainable and holistic approach to funding the alliances. One of the main issue relates to the support of both education and R&I ambitions of the alliances.
This has been very high on the agenda of Circle U. and was already discussed last year by the Rectors and Presidents gathered in Oslo. Circle U. is also cooperating with other higher education stakeholders, including university networks such as The Guild, of which 6 of our 9 universities are member. In this perspective, Circle U. has also contributed to the latest statement and recommendations published by the Guild on the investment pathway.
Monitoring framework
The first monitoring exercise launched by the European Commission is about to be finalised. As reminder, DG EAC has developed, in close consultation with the alliances, a monitoring framework whose main objective is to assess the outcomes and transformational potential of the European Universities initiative. By collecting quantitative and qualitative data among alliances, the Commission aims to prepare a report, targeted at policy makers and ministers, and present a set of convincing evidence to demonstrate the progress and transformational potential of the alliances.
From the inception of Circle U., the impact of our joint actions and their transformative potential has been a central point of attention. The monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) strategy provides the framework and the tools to ensure that Circle U. does have an impact on our universities, communities, partners and more broadly the higher education in Europe and beyond. In this perspective, the objectives pursued with the MEL strategy and those of the monitoring framework developed by the Commission are very much aligned. Circle U. is at the forefront on this issue, as very few alliances have developed such a structured and systematic approach towards monitoring and evaluation.
A community of practice
Last message from the two-day meeting: cooperation between alliances is of utmost importance and enables alliances to move forward. While the higher education sector can sometimes be quite competitive, since the inception of the first alliances, cooperation has been a strong leverage for their development. During the pilot phase of the alliances, alliances have built an informal forum of cooperation where they can exchange on the experience, they can voice joint message, they can contribute to the future developments of the initiative. Following a specific call in the framework of the Erasmus+ programme, all alliances have joined forces to establish a community of practice.
As other alliances, Circle U. has significantly contributed to the drafting of the proposal. With other alliances including Una Europa, Circle U. is willing to play a central role in this community of practice, in particular in supporting and reinforcing the policy dialogue between alliances and key policy-makers and other stakeholders’ organisations.
“Meeting coordinators of other alliances and engaging with the Commission and the Executive Agency are essential” says Mette Oftebro. “It allows us to reflect on our activities, on our working methods and our ambitions. Although the alliances are quite diverse, challenges and opportunities are quite similar. And therefore the cross-alliance dialogue is a must.”
