A4U took part in the flagship seminar “What’s new in Brussels?”, organized by the Academic Cooperation Association (ACA) on 2-3 February 2023 in Brussels.
The seminar brought together policy-makers, representatives of the European Commission, universities, national agencies and ACA actors in higher education, and aimed to discuss challenges to internationalization in higher education posed by the current geopolitical context.
A4U was represented by Dr Olga Belova, International Project Manager, who took part in the panel “Global cooperation in practice”, which focused on day-to-day challenges when cooperating with high-risk countries. She discussed ways in which A4U had to adapt its mobility scheme in order to continue cooperating with Russia and Iran in the current situation of political tensions in both countries. For example, mobility to Russia has been put on hold in order to to avoid any risks to Spanish mobility participants, while mobility from Russia to Spain was maintained so that academic and research links could continue in order to keep the dialogue with Russian counterparts going. Mobility with Iran is continuing but each case of Spanish academics or students going to this country goes through a careful risk-benefits assessment.
The seminar also covered challenges of cooperation in specific regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa and the Balkans and ways of implementing priorities of the Erasmus+ 2021-2027 programme such as inclusion and digital transformation.
This event gave A4U visibility among European actors and highlighted the benefits of tackling the challenges of international cooperation as a national alliance. Moreover, it was a good opportunity to discuss experience of managing Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility projects, exchanges ideas and learn good practice from other institutions.
ACA unites university associations such as Coimbra Group and European University Association, national agencies such as the Spanish Service for the Internationalization of Education and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), and other organizations, which aim to promote and fund the internationalization of higher education. ACA advocates its members’ interests vis-à-vis the European institutions and national governments, and acts as a think tank on issues of internationalization and innovation in higher education.
