YUFE, ECIU and EPICUR will lead an innovative approach to the European Degree label through the FOCI (Future-proof Criteria for Innovative European Education) project!
FOCI partners will lead a pilot project to shape the future European Degree (label) and pilot an innovative approach with strong support of the European Commission. The European Degree label is an opportunity to innovate our education and to co-create, upscale and deepen the European dimension in learning. In doing so, we commit to being bold and staying at the forefront, in order to respond to the societal needs through a forward-looking perspective which will allow us to go beyond traditional models of learning.
The project will run for one year (March 2023 – March 2024) and will enhance the Alliance’s close partnerships and co-creation with diverse higher education stakeholders, including students, labour market representatives, national authorities and quality assurance agencies (from all countries in which partner universities are situated). By bringing all of these stakeholders together, FOCI will explore the fundamental needs and expectations towards the European Degree label, from the perspective of not only the higher education sector, but also broader society, as well as relevant regulatory obstacles which need to be addressed at national and European level in order for the European Degree to become a reality in the near future.
The truly innovative and inclusive vision for education that unites YUFE, ECIU and EPICUR strongly manifest in FOCI’s goals to work with stakeholders, pilot first results and issue policy recommendations as concrete tools for advancing the development of European Degree label. In order to generate specific evidence for the added value of a European Degree (label), the FOCI project includes amongst its key activities the piloting of the European Degree label criteria in the context of a set of joint programmes and other educational models provided by the three Alliances.
YUFE, ECIU and EPICUR are three “first-wave” European Universities Alliances that have been piloting innovative models of European Universities since 2019 and have already proven their commitment to fundamentally reshaping how higher education in Europe is provided. Universities from these three Alliances have partnered up in the FOCI project to contribute to an evidence-based development of a European Degree label.
FOCI Consortium:
- University of Rijeka (YUFE)
- University of Antwerp (YUFE)
- Maastricht University (YUFE)
- Kaunas University of Technology (ECIU)
- Lodz University of Technology (ECIU)
- University of Amsterdam (EPICUR)
- Aristotle University in Thessaloniki (EPICUR)
- University of Strasbourg (EPICUR)