The European Commission recently incentivized universities to establish alliances in order to institutionalise regional collaboration through the European Universities Initiative (EUI). Alliances are envisioned to maintain Europe's global position and enhance regional integration. Their mission statements are ways of signalling identity and…

This multiple case study explores how researchers are motivated to perform their third mission activities in terms of collaborative projects with public and private actors. The study also investigates the involvement of universities' third mission support personnel and technology transfer executives in the collaboration. The study contributes new…

This report presents the findings of the 2023 EUA Learning & Teaching Thematic Peer Group "Development and strategic benefits of learning and teaching centres", beginning with a presentation of the centres represented in the group and proceeding by presenting a virtuous cycle model for the continuous advancement of centres.…

Micro-credentials have gained significant interest due to their potential to create flexible learning pathways and offer real-time, up-to-date training for the rapidly evolving labour market. Additionally, international organisations have highlighted their capacity to elevate the value of non-formal education and foster inclusive higher education…

Universities, and business schools specifically, are experiencing a transformation of their societal mission. Similar to the STEM fields, business schools are nested in global competitive environments facing multiple competing pressures, one being the need to demonstrate their social impact (SI). While business schools signal their commitment to…

Purpose: Recognising the importance of universities in the achievement of social and global objectives, this paper aims to study the relevance of the global reporting initiative (GRI) methodology for reporting University Social Responsibility (USR) activities, taking into account the specificity of higher education institutions (HEI).…

This collection of short essays presents and examines six vignettes of organisational change in British, New Zealand and European universities. Drawing on the social studies of economisation literature, formal research projects and auto-ethnographic insights, the authors detail profound changes in how knowledge is produced in universities. They…

One of the major contributions of the Catholic school to the formation of people and to the mission of the Church is religious education. In the diversity of school systems in Europe, it is possible to identify three models: the politico-conciliar, the academic-curricular and the ethical-value-based. These models evolve in line with the religious…

Existing university ranking systems blur differences between Higher Education Institutions because they only focus on research. The increased breadth, diversity and complexity of Higher Education Institutions' missions are repeatedly overlooked causing a low visibility to a wide audience. This paper demonstrates the possibilities to measure other…

Purpose: This paper aims to propose a thesis about the historical evolution of the relationship of the European University in relation to the idea of social responsibility. Design/methodology/approach: This paper is philosophical, conceptual and theoretical and in proffering a bold thesis, has an argumentative character appropriate to that style.…

University mottos have been demonstrated to convey educational philosophies, but few studies have investigated the educational philosophies reflected by university mottos from countries along the "One Belt, One Road" (OBOR) route, with applying the analytical approaches like text mining and natural language processing (NLP). This present…

Over the past three years, the European University Association (EUA) has been working on a number of initiatives related to higher education learning and teaching. Activities include knowledge building and studies, institutional development and peer learning, as well as a related policy statement and recommendations. The following of these are…

Entrepreneurial universities are a significant element of entrepreneurial ecosystems and aspire to foster entrepreneurial initiative through their "third mission". However, while entrepreneurial ecosystems are scrutinized using a contextual approach to detect differences and similarities and how they affect entrepreneurship, little is…

In recent decades, higher education has embraced the concept of blended teaching, the design and facilitation of online and face-to-face learning activities. As such initiatives are embedded in the formal context of an institution, educational managers and other decision makers are in search of evidence for creating sustainable conditions that…

The paper discusses the main issues which emerge for the university as an institution in the European context from the development of the lifelong learning paradigm. It focuses on both the opportunity-creating and tension-provoking presence of the lifelong learning concept in the university's institutional environment. The analysis is based on a…