FOCI Future-proof Criteria for Innovative European Education

ECIU (TUL is a member university), YUFE AND EPICUR will lead an innovative approach to the European Degree. Together with two other European University Alliances, ECIU University will lead a pilot project to shape the future European Degree and to pilot an innovative approach with the strong support of the European Commission.

The European degree label has the potential to strengthen the international, uniquely European dimension of educational provision in Europe. European University Alliances – as partnerships created for the very purpose of establishing innovative, transnational higher education systems – are in a unique position to pilot the application of the European degree label and contribute to policy discussions about its criteria, application methodology, legal frameworks and future developmental steps.

In this project, three such European University Alliances join forces, represented by eight individual universities, with the aim of testing the concept of the European degree label. Hence, FOCI contributes to reinvigorating the discussion on the future of transnational European cooperation and integration in the field of higher education, and how to co-create, upscale and deepen the European dimension learning experiences for future generations of learners.

The project will run for one year (March 2023 – March 2024) and will enhance the Alliance’s close partnerships and co-creation with diverse higher education stakeholders, including students, labour market representatives, national authorities and quality assurance agencies (from all countries in which partner universities are situated). By bringing all of these stakeholders together, FOCI will explore the fundamental needs and expectations towards the European Degree label, from the perspective of not only the higher education sector but also broader society, as well as relevant regulatory obstacles which need to be addressed at national and European level in order for the European Degree to become a reality in the near future.

FOCI Consortium:

• Kaunas University of Technology (ECIU)
• Lodz University of Technology (ECIU)
• University of Rijeka (YUFE)
• University of Antwerp (YUFE)
• Maastricht University (YUFE)
• University of Amsterdam (EPICUR)
• Aristotle University in Thessaloniki (EPICUR)
• University of Strasbourg (EPICUR)

More info at: eciu.p.lodz.pl/en (https://www.eciu.p.lodz.pl/en/news/3-european-university-alliances-will-work-together)