FOREU4ALL
FOREU4ALL brings together all 65 European Universities alliances into one unified Community of Practice, representing unprecedented collaboration across the European Universities initiative.
By providing a dedicated platform for alliances to pool their expertise and experiences, FORUEU4ALL enables alliances to learn more from one another, confront common challenges, and speak up on decisions that affect the future of higher education in Europe.
Exchange experience. Share best practice. Bolster cooperation.
European Universities alliances are key drivers of innovation in the European Higher Education Area and European Research Area, constantly evolving and pushing the limits of transnational collaboration across the sector. FOREU4ALL provides a space for the now 65 alliances, representing 570 higher education institutions, to come together and exchange experiences, identify best practice, and better address the common challenges we are facing.
The Community of Practice also works to ensure that these learnings are shared beyond the universities directly involved in the European Universities initiative (EUI), creating added value for other European higher education institutions, policymakers, and stakeholder organisations. In this way, FOREU4ALL aims to establish a unique, large-scale network of European higher education institutions and stakeholders committed to advancing innovation across Europe’s higher education landscape and beyond.
" Something that really makes European Universities alliances different to other types of collaboration is a willingness to be open about failure, to be open about things that don't work. That’s where FOREU4ALL can create value. "
Sophia Karner, Una Europa Senior Policy Officer and FOREU4ALL Policy Dialogue Co-Lead
Collaboration between European Universities alliances is not new. Since the beginning of the EUI, alliances have been sharing and supporting one another through the Forum of European Universities (FOR-EU), an informal network gathering the first alliances to receive funding from the Erasmus+ Programme (in 2019 and 2020). FOREU4ALL builds on this strong spirit of collaboration, consolidating and formalising the connections between alliances to ensure that no one alliance is left behind, and that we can all learn from each other.
Sharing expertise and building community
At the heart of the FOREU4ALL Community of Practice are 20 topical groups, bringing together experts from across the alliances to share and discuss specific topics crucial to transnational cooperation in higher education. The topical groups aim to:
- Empower alliances by providing a cooperative platform for networking and collaboration on common topics.
- Facilitate peer learning and encourage alliances to act as role models to one another.
- Enable alliances to co-create solutions to common challenges by sharing knowledge, experiences and skills.
- Spark innovation and boost quality across the European Higher Education Area and European Research Area by developing and sharing good practice and relevant learnings beyond the alliances.
Every alliance is invited to nominate up to two colleagues to represent them in each topical group, encouraging diversity in perspectives and leading to richer discussions and information sharing. Of the 20 topical groups currently active, Una Europa is actively contributing to 16 of these:
FOREU4ALL Topical Group |
Una Europa representation |
Communication and dissemination | Una Europa Communications Manager and Digital Communications Manager |
Community engagement | Senior Project Leads:
|
Diversity and inclusion | Secretary, Una Europa Diversity Council |
European Degree and joint programmes | Una Europa Senior Policy Officer Representative from the Legal Cluster |
Global outreach | Representative from the International Task Force Representative from the Una Europa–Africa Working Group |
Governance | Una Europa Senior Governance Officer |
Impact | Una Europa Secretary-General |
Innovation in teaching and | Senior Project Lead, Una Europa for Learners |
IT and digitalisation | Representative from the Interoperability Cluster Representative from the Blockchain Working Group |
Library and open science | Representative from the Library Working Group |
Mobility | Representative from the Mobility Cluster |
Multilingualism | Representative from the Directors of Language Centres Working Group |
Project Management | Una.Futura Senior Project Managers |
Quality Assurance | Una Europa Senior Policy Officer |
Research and Innovation | Una Europa Senior External Funding Officer Una Europa Senior Policy Officer |
Student-led community | Una Europa Governance Intern |
Members of the FOREU4ALL General Forum, including Una Europa Secretary-General Emily Palmer.
Una Europa Senior Policy Officer Sophia Karner presenting the policy dimension of FOREU4ALL.
Una Europa Senior Policy Officer Sophia Karner with the FOREU4ALL External Advisory Board.
Meeting of the FOREU4ALL Project Management Team and European Higher Education stakeholders.
Leading policy dialogue
In partnership with Circle U. alliance, Una Europa coordinates the policy dimension of the FOREU4ALL Community of Practice, taking the lessons learned across the EUI and making sure they are heard at regional, national, and European level.
FOREU4ALL Policy Dialogue aims to:
- Support European Universities alliances in their ambition to proactively engage in dialogue with policymakers.
- Contribute expertise to relevant policies on higher education and research & innovation, informed by the innovative activities and experimentation conducted by alliances.
- Leverage complementary expertise by connecting and collaborating with European higher education and research stakeholder communities.
- Lay the groundwork for more structured and continuous dialogue with policymakers at all levels.
To achieve these objectives, a series of Policy Learning Labs will be organised in the framework of the Community of Practice on strategic topics linked to the work of alliances, bringing together policymakers and practitioners to collaborate and exchange. By creating these dedicated spaces for dialogue between alliances and policymakers, FOREU4ALL hopes to ensure that the perspectives and experiences of the alliances are taken into account from the outset when existing policies that impact transnational collaboration are adapted, or new ones conceived.
