Paving the way for EU student eID.

On January 28th, the EUF kicked-off its first project funded by the Connecting Europe Facility: MyAcademicID (MyAID). The project aims at interconnecting the eduGAIN and ESC student eID schemes in a way that will enable secure and seamless exchange of data, also to provide services related to student mobility in Europe. These services include the Online Learning Agreement, the Erasmus+ Dashboard, the Erasmus+ Mobile App and the PhD Hub Platform. Hosted in Paris by the CNOUS, the kick-off conference gathered not only the project partners, but also representatives of the European Commission and of the French government, reflecting the importance that MyAID has in both the national and the European agendas as a key component of the larger European Student Card Initiative spearheaded by the European institutions. During the next year and a half, the 13 partners that make the Consortium of MyAID will work hard to develop a scheme to integrate chief services and e-identifiers, paving the way for seamless student mobility and a stronger, reinforced European student status throughout Europe. A number of workshops and conferences have been scheduled for the upcoming 18 months, with a mid-term conference taking place in Berlin in October 2019.

Open Space: don't miss the early bird!

The 5th EUF Open Space, our annual project incubator for EU funding in Higher Education, will take place at the University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ) from the 3rd to the 5th of July 2019. Registrations are open until June 3rd. Many innovative and successful Erasmus+ projects first took shape at the EUF Open Space, the perfect setting to join forces with experienced colleagues who will help you develop your ideas into concrete project proposals. What would you like to improve in the European Higher Education Area in 2019? An Erasmus+ project might just be the perfect beginning! Read more about our event and get to know the modern and dynamic UVSQ, which has recently joined the EUF network.

Proposal for Erasmus+ 2021-2027.

On February 20th, the Committee of Education and Culture (CULT) of the European Parliament has voted to support the proposal for Erasmus+ programme released by the European Commission in May 2018. While broad support was demonstrated, the members of the committee also included recommendations on how to further improve the programme, notably its inclusiveness, by expanding opportunities for people with special needs or from less advantaged backgrounds. The report stresses the importance of streamlining the management of the programme for HEIs, by establishing a one-stop shop tool for beneficiaries while contributing to the roll-out of the European Student Card by 2021 for all Erasmus students. It is also notable that CULT members aim at making the programmes' language learning tool more widely available. The CULT report will be debated in March during the plenary of the European Parliament and will feed into the trilogue negotiations between the Parliament, the Council and the Commission.

Teacher education creativity: interview.

The project DoCENT aims at integrating digital creativity into EU teacher education. It addresses several priorities, among which strengthening the profile of teacher educators with the necessary digital competences to deliver high quality teaching. In this context, the partners of DoCENT were invited to discuss creativity in education and what innovative pedagogical approaches and tools are being developed in teacher education. Read the interview!

Engaged students & formal recognition.

In the framework of the Erasmus+ project European STudent Engagement Project (European STEP), we are conducting a survey on the recognition and support mechanisms of student engagement. We would appreciate your contribution by forwarding this information to the student engagement officer, Erasmus+ coordinator, or any colleague who deals with student and community life at your Institution! Your feedback will help us collect important data on the general policies in use. After this analysis, we will be able to conclude if students’ participation in citizenship-related and solidarity activities, student’s involvement within their institution and on campus, and students’ political and associative commitment lead to formal validation in academic careers. The survey is open until 31st March and should take approximately 30 minutes.

We endorse the inclusive mobility alliance.

The EUF endorses the efforts made by the Inclusive Mobility Alliance (IMA) to ensure that learning mobility (such as Erasmus+) becomes more accessible to learners with disabilities. The IMA is a coalition of partners from Higher Education, the Youth sector and organisations working to represent the interests of persons with disabilities. On January 22nd, the European Parliament co-organised a conference with the IMA to launch a recommendation addressed to organisations managing Erasmus+, including universities. If you would like to find out what your institution can do to better support students with disabilities and learn more about the IMA, read more.

Erasmus+ & PhD mobility: survey.

Last autumn we contributed to the kick-off of project DocMob, which focuses on tools and good practices in doctoral mobility. We have run an initial analysis of the good practices and obstacles in this field and are now gathering quantitative input from higher education institutions. The survey will help us identify the different ways doctoral studies and international mobility are organised throughout Europe and how it affects Erasmus+ PhD students' mobility. Considering these variations, the results will help to shape Erasmus+ doctoral mobility on a larger scale and design appropriate Erasmus+ tools specifically for PhD students. Contribute to the survey until March 25th!

Serbia joins Erasmus+ programme.

Besides higher education and youth, Serbia can now enjoy wider participation in sport, vocational education and training as well as school and adult education projects for cooperation and mobility. It also means that Serbia can now reach out to partners outside Europe under international projects. Read more.

OECD Trends Shaping Education 2019.

Do you wonder if education has a role to play in preparing our societies for an age of artificial intelligence? Or what the impact of climate change might be on our schools and communities? Trends Shaping Education examines major economic, political, social and technological trends affecting education.