Internationalisation is a key element in raising Higher Education Institutions profile and in contributing to their modernisation. It enhances creativity and innovation in all activities and services they provide. At European level, policies for Higher Education and their resulting initiatives have significantly intensified over the last years. Among the tools available for EHEIs, the Erasmus+ Programme is one of the most valuable. If study mobility is seen as its most significant action, staff mobility is also an effective means for internationalising and modernising higher education systems and institutionsThe 2014 Erasmus Impact Study concluded that the target that 20% of students should be mobile during their studies by 2020 could not be achieved without the internationalisation at home of HEIs. This process depends on the experience and knowledge of academic and non-academic mobile staff, “it is therefore of the utmost importance that staff mobility is included among the top priorities of the internationalisation strategies of HEIs”. The 2012-2015 report of the BFUG Working Group for Mobility&Internationalisation, also recommends “to enhance staff mobility in the European Higher Education Area”, to better promote it, to create a supporting environment for staff mobility and to encourage its quality and appreciation. Finally, in its 2012 Strategy Mobility for Better Learning, the EHEA Ministerial Conference exhorted EHEIs “to give fair and formal recognition for competences gained abroad, to offer attractive incentives”Indeed, if its potential impact is very high and well recognised, staff mobility remains the “poor sister” of mobility programmes and faces a series of obstacles which limit the benefits it should bring to individuals and institutions: lack of information, workload, language skills, financial support, rare incentives and weak recognition of mobility experience in professional developmentDespite a diversity of contexts and situations, all REALISE partners representing 10 universities from 10 different countries came to the same conclusion that significant efforts and structural change must be made in improving the implementation and recognition of staff mobility. Before possibly looking to other types of mobility, they agreed to start with the Erasmus+ programme which offers a common field of study, where similar concepts and practices can be understood, and a substantial number of activities be analysedREALISE therefore aims at improving the implementation and recognition of staff mobility, in order to maximise its impact on both individuals and institutions. To this end, the project pursues 3 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:1-Identify and develop innovative practices regarding the implementation of the Erasmus+ programme for staff mobility2-Foster the recognition of mobility in the career development of academic, administrative and technical staff in HEIs3-Raise institutional awareness about the added value of staff mobility and promote its contribution to HEIs’ internationalisation strategiesREALISE is a 3-year project organised around 4 core Activities which integrate all the components required to achieve its objectives: A.1 Development: collect data and map practices on staff mobility activities, identify challenges and obstacles, develop innovative practices in the field >Months 1-14A.2 Test: test and evaluate the new practices, improve them accordingly in order to be transferable and disseminated >Months 14-30A.3 Exploitation: exploit the results in view to transfer them and disseminate them broadly, organise a large event to inform stakeholders about the results and engage discussion for further developments >Months 30-36A.4 Consultation & Policy dialogue: engage in discussion with relevant authorities and stakeholders in order to support the project developments and pave the way for policy recommendations and new perspectives >Months 3-36To this end, REALISE will deliver new and innovative outputs-A set of survey tools-A European comparative analysis of staff mobility across Europe-A Handbook for the implementation of the Erasmus+ programme for staff mobility-A Training module on how to improve staff mobility activities-The conclusions of the policy dialogue at different levelsTo broaden its impact REALISE will involve other universities (Associated partners) in the project activities, starting with the survey, as well as local, national and European stakeholders (Rectors’ Conferences, networks)The project expects the partners’ practices in the implementation and management of the Erasmus+ programme for staff mobility to be durably improved, especially the recognition and promotion of mobility in professional development. These improvements must contribute to the modernisation and internationalisation of the participating organisations. At its level, REALISE will also favour the adoption of some of the recommendations made by the BFUG WG M&I in its 2012-2015 report
PARTNERSHIP The REALISE project brings together 10 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) from 10 European countries. Their repartition on the European territory enabled the project to take into account the differences between countries and institutions such as their size and structure/organization (for the institutions), but also cultural and legal differences as far as the countries are concerned. CONTEXT The REALISE project originated from a number of observations by university decision-makers and operators (International relations offices’ directors, vice-presidents in charge of international relations, Erasmus+ officers…) on the management of Erasmus+ staff mobility at institutional level, and from the frustration that what appeared as poor “value for investment” roused among them. Indeed, much European and institutional funding, time and energy are spent on staff mobility programmes. However, it is difficult to assess their impact both on individuals and institutions and to make it consistent with higher education institutions’ international strategies. In order to contribute to the adoption by the largest number of European institutions of the recommendations of the Bologna Follow-up Groups, the REALISE project has pursued 3 main objectives: - Improve the quality of staff mobility aiming at improving the quality of teaching, the quality of the administration, management and student services as a whole, contributing to the modernization of Higher Education benefiting to the students. - Strengthen quality through mobility and cross-border cooperation by improving the management and implementation procedures of the Erasmus+ programme for staff, its evaluation and recognition. - Improve the governance and funding to reach a more efficient and effective use of the funds allocated to institutions in order to maximize the potential and the impact of the programme on institutions. These objectives were achieved by the consortium, in particular through the realization of the project activities. MAIN ACTIVITIES AND RESULTS The project can be summarized in 7 main activities, closely related one-to-another and respecting a constructive logic: - Survey in the 10 countries of the consortium: 6202 respondents - Writing of a Comparative Analysis: 58 pages - Creation of a Toolbox gathering actions to improve the management and recognition of staff mobility: 4 chapters including 25 actions to be tested - Testing phase: Test the actions of the Toolbox in order to evaluate their effectiveness and/or the difficulties related to their implementation - Handbook: Detail of the tests of the actions and evaluation, with elements allowing their reproduction: 22 actions tested, 50 tests in total - A Staff Training Week for other European institutions to train them to the implementation of the actions tested and improve the management/quality/recognition of staff mobility: 87 participants, 20 countries, 70 institutions. The actions tested are meant to be reproduced; the impact of this event is very strong and contributes to the sustainability of the project results. - A European conference aiming at communicating the obstacles to staff mobility as closely as possible to the European Commission and other decision makers and communicating recommendations for a change in the Erasmus + program and European policies: 34 participants from national and European authorities acting on this issue field (completed by 22 representatives of the management of the partnership institutions) - A Policy Dialogue that took place from the beginning to the end of the project at several levels: local/institutional, national, European level. 86 dissemination actions, reaching more than 1,200 people, 400 institutions, and 200 representatives of relevant authorities from 50 institutions, which represents a high qualitative impact. LONG-TERM BENEFITS Although the project has many short-term and medium-term benefits, a long-term vision is obviously necessary given that the project advocates a real evolution of the culture of Higher Education Institutions, its staff, and ideally should be accompanied by measures at national and/or European level: - an increase in the number of beneficiaries and in the quality of staff mobility; - towards recognition of the international involvement of agents in their careers and at national level; - towards an evolution of the Erasmus + programme, giving more incentives regarding staff mobility and offering more flexibility for the organization of staff mobility; - towards a greater influence of European institutions (in terms of welcoming international audiences, developing excellence projects, etc.).