By Erin Nordal. The internationalization of higher education has become a reality for many, with a systematic increase in both shorter-term student mobility and full-degree mobility in many parts of the world. This plays a key role in enhancing intercultural competencies and understanding, and ultimately enhances the quality of higher education through the introduction of global perspectives in curricula. 
As an umbrella organization for 47 national unions of students in 39 countries, the European Students’ Union (ESU) represents over 11 million students in Europe. Internationalization is a main area in our work in representing and promoting students’ social, economic and cultural interests. More...

Erasmus Student Network (ESN) is one of the biggest interdisciplinary student associations in Europe. It was founded on the 16th October 1989 and its aim is to support and develop student mobility. ESN conducts every year several transnational surveys and research projects on students’ mobility and internationalization of higher education.

ESN, together with CHE Consult (DE), Brussels Education Services (BE) and the Compostela Group of Universities (ES), are carrying out an impact study on the Erasmus programme launched by the European Commission. The consortium led by CHE Consult is currently conducting a comprehensive study investigating the impact of the Erasmus programme on students, staff, institutions and business/employers.

ESN hosts a Research & Proofreading Internship position under the contractual lead of CHE Consult for students in higher education to support us in the Erasmus Impact Study research in 2013. More...

The education goal in the post-2015 agenda is so far titled Quality Education and Lifelong Learning. This target will be taken strongly forward in the coming months by UIL and partner organisations.  As lifelong learning is linked to and contributes to other targets of the development agenda, the participants pointed out that lifelong learning  is not limited to education, but  is linked to issues including health, employment, poverty reduction, and sustainable development. In national lifelong learning policies, attention should not only be paid to formal learning, but also non-formal and informal learning. The meeting also discussed a technical note on lifelong learning prepared by UIL. It will be revised based on the input received from participants and will be part of UNESCO’s series of technical notes. The meeting emphasized the importance of strong partnerships between international organizations, governmental and non-governmental organisations, and the private sector, in moving the lifelong learning agenda forward. 

Links:

http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/ED/ED_new/pdf/UNESCOConceptNotePost2015_ENG.pdf

http://www.post2015hlp.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/UN-Report.pdf