ECIU shares 10 criteria to maximise the impact of European Universities Networks

Europe needs universities that dare to truly andcontinuously innovate education and maximise their societal impact. European UniversitiesNetworks offer an important opportunity to catalyse educational innovations,such as student-centred learning, flexible education and European curricula. The European Consortium of InnovativeUniversities (ECIU) supports the development of ambitious European UniversitiesNetworks by sharing ten criteria, including five ideas for activities to befunded.

The development ofseveral European Networks of Universities offers an excellent opportunity to realisea strong European Education Area. European Universities Networks can helpmaximise the impact of Europe’s educational investments and stayinternationally competitive in an ever faster developing world.

To enable theacceleration of new educational developments, European Universities Networksneed to be ambitious. Safe surroundings where bold ideas are shared and testedin different contexts and cultures willmove educational innovations to the centre of practice.

Furthermore, thenetworks need to be open to the surrounding communities and involve all partiesof the knowledge triangle, to maximise their impact on society. European UniversitiesNetworks must invest in integrated education, research and innovation activities. To realise this,it iscrucial that EU education, research andinnovation funding is combined, so that there is one call for all activities.

The ideal number ofpartners can differ per network and activity. Although it is important that thenumber of partners in a network is manageable, this cannot be predefined by aspecific number. The amount of twelve like-minded member universities hasworked very well for the ECIU over the last twenty years. Based on theexperience of this closely-knit network, ECIU is happy to share its position onEuropean Universities Networks.