From exchange to action: five topic groups
This year, we will launch five topic groups to deepen collaboration throughout 2027. Each group will bring together colleagues working on a shared challenge, exchange good practices and barriers, and develop a practical work programme.
By the end of the day, each group will have selected a chair, agreed on priorities and scheduled its follow-up meetings. The groups will continue with two to three online meetings during 2027 and report back at the next Community of Practice in January 2028.
Bring your experience, help identify what needs to change, and work with peers on the next steps.
1 · Upscaling internationalisation and innovation in education
How can we make joint education work at scale? This group explores mobility, joint programmes and the European degree, microcredentials, quality assurance and accreditation and how European values translate into students’ everyday learning experiences.
For: Colleagues who design, accredit or deliver joint education, including agency and ministry representatives whose decisions shape what is possible.
Starting question: Which parts of joint provision have we scaled beyond pilots, and what specifically is stopping the rest?
2 · Community engagement and impact
This group connects two closely related strands. Engagement focuses on how students and staff, academic and administrative alike, participate as co-creators, and how to sustain involvement beyond the usual enthusiasts. Impact focuses on understanding, assessing, communicating and managing what alliance work actually changes, through impact literacy, shared methods and evidence that is meaningful to policymakers and partners.
For: Colleagues working on student and staff participation and co-creation, and those responsible for assessing, demonstrating or communicating alliance impact. Regional and societal contributions are considered here from an impact perspective; alliance research strategy and research positioning are addressed in group 5.
Starting question: Who in our institutions is genuinely taking part in alliance work, and what can we show for what it has changed?
3 · European Universities governance and legal frameworks
This group looks at governance on two levels. Externally, it explores the legal instruments under which alliances operate, the European degree label and possible durable legal forms for alliances. Internally, it examines how alliance collaboration is embedded in institutions: who holds the mandate, where decisions are made and how alliance work connects to existing governance structures.
For: Board secretaries, policy advisors and alliance coordinators responsible for institutional coordination and governance.
Starting question: Where does alliance work still depend on individuals rather than structures, and which of those dependencies is riskiest?
4 · Interoperability: IT and student administration
Making collaboration work also means making systems work together. This group focuses on student data exchange, enrolment of visiting students, credit recognition, timetabling across institutions and the European student identifier infrastructure. Its practical, technical focus offers opportunities to develop solutions that can be shared and used during the year.
For: Student administration, registry and IT colleagues, alongside alliance staff encountering these operational barriers.
Starting question: Which single interoperability problem, if solved once and shared, would save every alliance the most repeated effort?
5 · Research and innovation
How can alliance membership strengthen applied research? This group explores joint research agendas, positioning in Horizon Europe and the potential implications of the next framework programme, sharing research infrastructure and staff, and doctoral pathways. For Dutch universities of applied sciences, these pathways involve collaboration with degree-awarding partners rather than awarding doctorates directly.
For: Research coordinators, funding advisors and colleagues in lectorates involved in alliance research activities.
Starting question: Where does alliance membership improve our research position, and what would it take to make more of it?
