Bjørn Stensaker (Vice-rector for education at the University of Oslo and coordinator of the Circle U. Erasmus+ project) and Kevin Guillaume (Secretary General of Circle U.) have joined the coordinators of the other alliances and the various services of the European Commission for one of the first physical gatherings of the coordinators. The main objective of this meeting was to offer an opportunity to alliances and the European Commission to discuss and exchange on the ongoing strands of work and future development of the European University Initiative.
Shaping the future of European Higher Education and Research
The alliances are unique cooperation processes that are meant not only to transform our teaching, learning, research and service missions as university, but also to shape the future of the European Higher Education and Research areas. In this perspective, it is essential to monitor the impacts of the alliances. With the Member States and the alliances, the European Commission has been working on co-developing a joint monitoring framework. With a series of quantitative and qualitative indicators, the main objective is to demonstrate the transformational potential and the concrete outcomes of the alliances.
Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL)
While the alliances agree on the necessity to provide evidence, the coordinators have also reminded that the alliances are mainly piloting initiatives, testing new approaches and potentially making errors. This requires time and therefore, it is essential to develop a monitoring framework that is fit-for-purpose and take the diversity of the alliances into consideration. For Circle U., this framework is to be linked with the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) strategy that we have developed since the very start of the alliance. In the coming months, the Secretary General and the MEL officer will continue to follow these developments.
Circle U. 2030
To maximize the long-term and sustainable impacts of the alliances, it is vital to ensure their funding beyond the life of the projects. If our new “Circle U. 2030” proposal is selected, the “roll-out” phase foresees funding for the next four plus two years. But what will happen after this period? The European Commission is currently developing an investment pathway that will secure the long-term funding of the alliances. Various avenues are being explored and have been presented at the meeting.
The alliances, including Bjørn Stensaker, have stressed the necessity to adopt a more holistic approach in this investment pathway, making sure that the EU funding will encompass all missions of higher education. Indeed, because of the EU legal framework and the programmatic approach linked to education, research and innovation, the sources of funding are still separated or fragmented. And this is a major challenge for the alliances that aim to respond to the societal challenges of today and tomorrow, with emerging from learning and teaching activities, research and innovation collaborations, and other services to society.
Investment in internal communication
Last but not least, this meeting has been a unique opportunity to exchange with other alliances about their practices, their successes, their challenges. And indeed, this dialogue is of great support in developing and implementing Circle U. The alliances have, for example, discussed the communication and dissemination aspects. And Kevin Guillaume has underlined the importance to “invest” in the internal communication to make sure that Circle U. is a really for the whole community, and not just another EU project.
A next important rendezvous will be the 2nd European University Alliances forum that the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council intends to organise in Barcelona by mid-September.
