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Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
The rectors of the Europe-wide university alliance will meet in Barcelona on 16 and 17 January.
More than 368,000 students and 24,000 academic, research and administrative staff at Europe's leading open and distance learning universities will benefit from an alliance committed to lifelong learning, mobility, employability and inclusion.
A transnational bachelor's degree in software development, a joint master's degree in climate change and a joint portfolio of microcredentials are among the future academic initiatives aimed at providing students with greater flexibility in their educational pathways.
OpenEU, the alliance for the first ever pan-European open university, has taken its first steps. The rectors of the ten participating universities – which include the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), leading the project, and the FernUniversität in Hagen – are meeting in Barcelona to define the roadmap for the coming years on 16 and 17 January.
This major coalition, supported by the European Commission through the European Universities initiative, involves 27 academic and non-academic organizations, and aims to transform higher education by centring on a more inclusive, equitable and digitally enabled model focused on lifelong learning.
“At a time when private, for-profit online universities are springing up all over the place, OpenEU offers an opportunity to advocate the need for quality online higher education as a cornerstone of the European Higher Education Area,” said Àngels Fitó, rector of the UOC and president of the alliance. “As Europe's open and distance learning universities, we have a responsibility to continue to provide learning opportunities for individuals who, for whatever reason, do not have the option of attending university in person.”
Prof Dr Stefan Stürmer, Deputy Rector of the FernUniversität in Hagen, adds: “The OpenEU Alliance of Distance Learning Universities can set important accents in the European higher education landscape. For the FernUniversität, the co-operation enables us to gain international visibility, develop synergies with important partners and further advance our networking at European level.”
First steps and major challenges
OpenEU's strategic objectives for the next four years are the three major challenges in higher education: lifelong learning, inclusion and equity, and digital transformation.
The FernUniversität in Hagen will take the lead for one of the central work packages within OpenEU. “The FernUniversität stands for lifelong learning like no other institution in Germany. Being allowed to lead the work package in this area will strengthen its position even more and expand it to international standards,” says Prof. Dr. Uwe Elsholz, Vice-Rector for Internationalisation at the FernUniversität.
Among other initiatives, the alliance will work to develop a comprehensive catalogue of educational opportunities offered jointly by its members. This will include the first transnational bachelor's degree: a three-year programme in software development developed together with the National University of Distance Education (UNED) and the Open University of the Netherlands. In addition, a shared virtual campus will be created to enable interaction between the different members of the university community. The alliance will also support five European higher education institutions in integrating digital education into their curricula.
Predoctoral research will be another cornerstone of the project, fostering collaboration between research teams from the alliance universities. This will be achieved through various initiatives, including summer and winter schools, seminars, training sessions and opportunities for exchanges with other institutions. The possibility of interuniversity doctoral programmes will also be explored, with the aim of establishing a highly active and collaborative predoctoral research community.
368,000 students to benefit from greater mobility and more job opportunities
OpenEU will represent over 368,000 university students, most of whom have non-traditional profiles: the average age is 36, and 84% juggle their studies with work commitments. Also in its favour, the alliance has 709,000 graduates and 24,000 staff across all participating institutions.
The alliance will provide international experiences for students from its ten member institutions through virtual, hybrid and face-to-face exchanges. Students, academic staff, researchers and administrative teams within OpenEU will benefit from increased opportunities for mobility between the consortium universities, enabling the community to strengthen collaboration, share best practices and address common challenges.
A common portfolio of microcredentials in key areas such as climate change, European values and democracy, and digital transformation will also be developed. Students will be able to enrol in courses offered by any of the universities in the consortium, increasing their opportunities for specialization and creating more flexible learning pathways. In this context, the OpenEU alliance will work to ensure that these microcredentials are integrated into curricula, promoting their recognition at the European level and creating new options over the course of students' academic trajectories.
One of OpenEU's first initiatives will be the launch of an open master's degree in climate change, which will be offered in all of the participating universities, enabling unique and diverse learning pathways tailored to individual needs.
The interuniversity alliance will revolve around three key areas, addressing major challenges that are not only European but also global: the climate emergency, digital transformation and democracy. Accordingly, all academic programmes developed within the OpenEU framework will focus on at least one of these areas, as will its communities of practice and communities of thought, involving teaching and research staff, students and administrative staff within the consortium.
A joint programme to promote entry into the job market
The alliance is also committed to improving students' career prospects through initiatives such as a shared jobs and internships exchange, which will guarantee transnational hybrid, virtual and face-to-face experiences, and a virtual employment fair, which will launch in the project's third year.
To further empower students to develop their skills and improve their employability, OpenEU will create a virtual career guidance tool informed by real labour market data.
OpenEU will work closely with networks such as Eurocities, Stifterverband and the Bulgarian Industry Association to provide vocational training tailored to the needs of the European labour market. This collaboration aims to meet societal needs with a coherent and transnational education offer that develops essential employability skills.
Supporting the digital transformation of higher education institutions
One of OpenEU's key objectives is to leverage the alliance's knowledge and experience in digital education for the benefit of Europe's higher education system. To achieve this, the alliance will work with five brick-and-mortar universities to help them develop their own digital education methodologies: St Cyril and St Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo (Bulgaria), Daugavpils University (Latvia), Fan S. Noli University (Albania), MIT University (North Macedonia) and the Ukrainian Engineering Pedagogics Academy (Ukraine).
In addition, joint research on digital pedagogies will be promoted through the creation of a European research cluster on education with digital technologies and a think-and-do tank on digital education.
Towards inclusive and equitable higher education
A commitment to inclusion is a core pillar of OpenEU. The alliance will develop specific programmes targeting under-represented groups in higher education, such as women in science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM), people with disabilities and people living in rural areas. OpenEU will also focus on improving access to and participation in higher education among migrants and refugees, building on its partnership with the Mediterranean Universities Union (UNIMED), which runs many projects centred on these groups.
Another example of collaboration is OpenEU's partnership with the European LEADER Association for Rural Development (ELARD), which represents over 2,500 local associations. Together they will develop a common rural agenda aimed at improving access to higher education for communities that are far from major cities, OpenEU thereby bringing significant added value in relation to traditional universities.
OpenEU will also launch a mentoring programme in partnership with Mentoring Europe. This initiative, already operating at the UOC, will be extended to a European level with the design of a dedicated programme. In addition, the alliance will initiate specific research and innovation projects in the field of digital education, with the aim of transforming higher education through a shared digital vision among the consortium's member institutions.
What is OpenEU and who is part of this project?
OpenEU is made up of 14 universities, 10 of which are direct beneficiaries of European funding: the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, the National University of Distance Education (Spain), the Open Universiteit of the Netherlands, the FernUniversität in Hagen (Germany), the Open University of Cyprus, the Hellenic Open University (Greece), Bifröst University (Iceland), St Cyril and St Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo (Bulgaria), the Universidade Aberta (Portugal) and Daugavpils University (Latvia).
The alliance also includes associated bodies such as the European Association of Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU) and the International Association of Universities (IAU), and collaborating universities from the United Kingdom (Open University), Albania (Fan S. Noli University), North Macedonia (MIT University) and Ukraine (the Ukrainian Engineering Pedagogics Academy).
https://www.openeu.eu/ OpenEU Website
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