Micro-collaboration as a new pillar in the internationalisation of higher education teaching. A White paper by the E+ Strategic Partnership DIONE

Wasserscheidt, Philipp Filipovic, Jelena Ruiz Cecilia, Raúl Van Goethem, Kristel [UCL] Petrovic, Milan Vervaet, Stijn Royle, Karl et al.[show all]

In today's era of global knowledge and technology, interconnected networks and global awareness, the internationalisation of higher education has taken an important place. One of the most important goals in tertiary education is to provide the most relevant education for students who will be citizens as well as scientists and entrepreneurs of the future. Yet, internationalisation is not an end in itself but a means to shape tomorrow's society, to train competences that we assume will be relevant in the future. The specific purposes and goals associated with internationalisation may vary. For some, internationalisation of universities is a way to increase visibility, revenue or student numbers and quality. For others, internationalisation is primarily about giving students the skills they need for their future working lives. Others emphasise that the goal of internationalisation must be the strengthening of intercultural competence and the development of global citizens. The focus here is thus on the formation of a critical cosmopolitanism that emphasises the connectedness of all peoples and communities. There has been a growing awareness in recent decades that internationalisation cannot only involve physical mobility and face-to-face contact. This awareness is due to a number of different personal, logistical and financial factors. Rather, higher education institutions are called upon to develop a broader and more comprehensive internationalisation strategy that not only encompasses student mobility, but also considers competences and attitudes, forms of communication and hospitality, as well as different internationalisation formats at various administrative levels. The challenge in this field grows even more when one considers that the European Union is on the path of deep integration and that it is therefore desirable that local and national borders become blurred and that the citizens of the European Union live in constant contact with each other. A vision would be for the term international to disappear in intra-European cooperation - and for all cooperation within the European Union to be understood only as domestic cooperation. Internationalisation must be a way for the university to meet the needs of all students and staff in their everyday learning and working lives. The aim of this paper is to propose a new format for just such a purpose and to outline how it can be used in university teaching.