ACA wins LLP funding for two new projects

The results of the 2011 call for proposals of the European Union’ Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP) brought good news for ACA. Two of the ideas submitted for consideration under the Erasmus actions were positively received by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) and were selected for funding.
The first is a multilateral project under the title Mapping "mobility windows" in European higher education. Examples from selected countries (MOWIN). This work will involve cooperation between ACA and its Finnish member, CIMO, as well as the HIS-Institute for Research on Higher Education, based in Germany. In general terms, the project aims to generate accurate and useful research results that can feed into and inform the debates occurring at various levels in Europe about the removal of obstacles to student mobility through the use of mobility-enhancing tools. More specifically, MOWIN aspires to create an inventory of types of curricular integrations of study abroad periods – in essence, a typology of “mobility windows” that reflects the variety of practices and models in chosen European countries. In addition, the project will examine how the different models are implemented in selected countries and institutions, as a means of identifying examples of good practice (or important pitfalls to avoid) at very operational levels.
Meanwhile, The European university in the 21st century. Reconciling the social dimension, excellence, internationalisation and sustainable funding (EUSEIF) is an ACA initiative that has been selected to receive Erasmus Accompanying Measures funding. This innovative project will address five core themes in a transversal fashion, exploring how the aspirations of the so-called ‘social dimension’ in European higher education are influenced by other key aims pursued simultaneously by European tertiary institutions, namely excellence, mobility, internationalisation and sustainable funding. Five concept papers based on these topics will be developed and used as the guiding framework for an international conference that will provide a forum for in-depth discussion and advancement of ideas about these areas and their intersecting aspects. A publication should serve as another key EUSEIF output. A number of ACA’s member organisations are expected to be drawn into this work. See European Commission - Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency.