Hogeschool Utrecht
HU
Als University of Applied Sciences verzorgen we onderwijs en verrichten we onderzoek.
ID: 895785030932-55
Lobbying Activity
Response to Multiannual Financial Framework: Erasmus Programme 2021-2027
12 Oct 2018
Thank you for the opportunity to give our feedback on the new working programme ‘Erasmus’. We are happy to see that there is a rise in budget and that the programme builds upon the structure of the current Erasmus+ programme (3 key actions).
The Erasmus+ programme has been a valuable instrument for our university of applied sciences to build partnerships, share knowledge, exchange best practices and provide students and teachers with the possibility to go abroad. To make sure the Erasmus programme maintains to be a facilitator for internationalisation of education and research at our university of applied sciences, and others around Europe, we would like to raise awareness on the following topics:
In general we ask for more awareness for the specific strength of Universities of Applied Sciences with their strong focus on linking applied research with high-quality higher education. R&I-activities at our higher education institutions (HEI’s) are of an interdisciplinary nature and serve to address the challenges and needs of the industry, public sector and meaningful engagement with society at large.
We ask special attention for the specific anchorage and liaison function of UAS in research and innovation programs. UAS are pre-eminently effective in linking and accelerating regional innovations by the European programs, in which Erasmus is one of the facilitating programs.
Key Action1:
Language preparation, a focus of the prior programme, to facilitate individual mobility has been a necessary a strong instrument. With this new period ahead of us we plead for new instruments facilitating Intercultural Effectiveness:
- to help students, teachers and researchers to prepare and reflect during the period abroad and evaluate when returning home to better understand reciprocal dependencies in the world.
- and groups, like teachers to internationalize their programs.
Key Action 2:
We are happy to see that the action “strategic partnership” is being continued and that the possibility is provided to set up small-scale partnerships with limited administrative burden. However, where strategic partnerships were partnerships for innovation, this seems to be let go. It is unclear to us what kind of partnerships are to stimulated via the ‘partnerships for cooperation’ and what the focus of these cooperation’s should have.
In the proposed programme and the accompanying working document, special attention is directed towards “European universities” and centers of vocational excellence (‘partnerships for excellence’). As a university of applied sciences, we fear that an important target group has been let out. We stress the importance of including universities of applied sciences as a target group to this action.
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