Internal Quality Assurance as a Catalyst for sustainable, transnational collaboration: the case of the EUTOPIA Alliance

The study examines how QA processes underpin the alliance's commitment to interdisciplinarity and transnational collaboration. Central to this analysis is the EUTOPIA model's bottom-up approach to identifying and scaling good practices in learning, teaching and research, which is instrumental in fostering a culture of knowledge exchange among staff and students across campuses. The paper focuses on the implementation of two tools for recognising staff/student effort: the EUTOPIA Labels and Micro-credentials, both designed to acknowledge the efforts of staff and students participating in EUTOPIA’s Connected Communities. These tools preserve the innovative space of the EUTOPIA Communities, allowing for adaptable bottom-up approaches that cater to diverse learner needs and interests. The proposed process takes the recognition of internal QA processes as its bedrock and intends to significantly reduce the administrative support needed for recognising effort and integrates results into the regular curriculum of the home universities. This paper discusses the possible implications of our model for transferability of microcredits earned in one EUTOPIA institution to learning pathways in partner universities, providing students with more flexibility to tailor their education. The role of QA in this process is crucial, ensuring that the offerings meet the intended learning outcomes. We close the paper with implications for QA systems and the role of alliances for sharing good practice through micro-programming.

This paper was presented at EQAF and reflects the views of the named authors only.

ISSN: 1375-3797

Internal Quality Assurance as a Catalyst for sustainable, transnational collaboration: the case of the EUTOPIA Alliance

Jo Angouri, Rosette S’Jegers, Melinda Szabo

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