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The European Universities Initiative (EUI), created by the European Commission in 2017, is a recent novel phenomenon within the European Union policy toolkit that explicitly targets the development of transnational cooperation in higher education (HE). To date, the EUI counts 44 European university alliances, involving around 340 HE institutions. In this paper, we argue that the EUI can be seen as a case of a transnational institution building process representing a potentially significant structural reform for European higher education. Anchored in new institutionalism, we explore the regulative, normative, and cultural-cognitive dimensions of the EUI. Methodologically, this study analyzes the perspectives of European policy actors (n = 4), a set of policy documents (n = 13) and the mission statements of the EUI's partnerships funded before 2022 (n = 41). The results show that the EUI emerges as the 'next level of cooperation' in European HE since it aims to transform European cooperation (regulative dimension), to create and diffuse a new model for European HE following a challenge-based approach (normative dimension), and to work as a way to reinforce and institutionalize European and global scripts for European HE (cultural-cognitive dimension).

This paper presents a comprehensive review of existing literature concerning the domains of accreditation and quality assurance in various sectors. Accreditation and quality assurance play vital roles in ensuring the credibility, transparency, and effectiveness of educational institutions, healthcare facilities, industries, and other domains. This paper synthesizes the findings of numerous studies, focusing on the conceptual frameworks, methodologies, and outcomes associated with accreditation and quality assurance processes. The review encompasses a wide range of perspectives, including historical context, best practices, challenges, and advancements in accreditation and quality assurance. Through a systematic analysis of these scholarly works, this paper aims to provide a deeper understanding of the evolving landscape of accreditation and quality assurance across diverse sectors and shed light on potential future research directions.

Adapting teacher education programs to societal changes is a current issue, especially when viewed through the European frameworks driving transformative reforms. The paper reports how European frameworks and other initiatives in higher education and teacher education aim to support the transformation of teacher education programmes. Multiple European-level interventions have engendered shifts in the conceptual understanding and orientation of initial teacher education programmes across numerous contexts within Europe. The purpose of this paper was to examine the shift of teacher education programmes into competence-based in Kosovo, the youngest country in Europe, in the context of European frameworks as an impetus for transition. This qualitative research is a part of a broader study that involves analysing study programmes, conducting interviews with teacher educators and management staff, and holding focus groups with student-teachers. The goal is to explore the path of contextualizing European-inspired programme reforms in more detail. The findings show that Kosovo is shifting to a competence-based approach to align with EU integration, incorporating European principles for programme improvement. However, the study reveals a notable focus on maintaining programmes' tradition. This leads to tensions and contradictions regarding programme tradition, EU integration goals, and actual implementation.The results provide valuable insights into the significance of educational context and the tacit knowledge of teacher educators and other stakeholders during programme reforms within the context of European initiatives.

The Bologna Process represents the most significant extensive reform of higher education in Europe. The particular aspects of the Bologna Process still incite critical evaluations as regards the successfulness of its implementation. The theoretical part of the paper analyzes the fundamental principles defined in the Bologna Declaration, requirements and critical views of the Bologna Process, as well as the relevant research conducted on this issue used for the comparative analysis. The introduction of the Bologna Process into the Serbian university education has initiated numerous changes, the increase of the student mobility being the most striking one. The empirical part of the paper focuses on the study of the following problem: the manner in which students of social sciences and humanities perceive the Bologna Process fifteen years after its implementation into the Serbian university education. Consequently, the subject matter of the research is the observation and description of students' attitudes to this phenomenon with the purpose of acquiring relevant information "firsthand." The achievable objective of the presented research reviews the context and condition of the Bologna Process during 2019/2020 academic year and its feasible improvements, which can contribute to comparative study of similar researches in the time of the pandemics. The specific research tasks include the study of the Bologna requirements, attitudes to the Bologna Process, benefits and restrictions of this reform, and particularly the attempt to suggest the improvement of the Bologna Process realization from the perspective of students of social sciences and humanities. The research sample consisted of the Bachelor students of social sciences and humanities from the Faculty of Philosophy in Niš (N=150). The survey technique and the scaling technique with a rating scale questionnaire were used (BOL-JM-JOZ). The questionnaire had five closed-ended questions, while the Likert scale was comprised of 23 items. The test of the instrument consistency proved its reliability. The obtained results were shown by the chi square test, which proved a statistically significant difference in the respondents' answers as regards the year of study, p<0.05. The main factors were extracted from the assessment scale by the application of the factor analysis. These factors examined the students' perceptions of the Bologna Process, comparing the answers provided by the students of the first, second, third and fourth year of study of social sciences and humanities, p<0.05.

This paper presents an overview of approaches and proposals to improve the integration of migrant children in schools in Spain and it is linked to the European research project Migrant Children and Communities in a Transforming Europe (MiCREATE). It focuses on a part of the research in which stakeholders were interviewed. Based on the needs of migrant children and practices already implemented in Spain, experts from different fields problematised and proposed improvements in current policies and practices in education. The main conclusions indicate that a more holistic and transversal approach to the inclusion of migrants is needed, as well as better coordination between institutions in different contexts and areas of action. This implies rethinking inclusive practices and involving children's families and taking their environment into consideration, as well as supporting educational practices that foster a sense of belonging among migrant children and their families in schools, the community, and society. Finally, the paper highlights the importance of gathering data from stakeholders in different fields of expertise and areas of action in order to obtain a more complex and insightful overview of the phenomenon under study.

The political, social, and institutional environments in which contemporary universities operate have changed rather dramatically over the past two decades in ways that threaten the resilience of the academic core, both in its ability to map knowledge comprehensively and also to maintain a balance between the branches of the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. This paper traces historical changes (2003-2019) in the academic core of two "flagship" research-intensive universities located in Northern Europe. The results show that some branches of the academic core are undergoing dynamic processes of program churn that make them resilient. Furthermore, the data show that this resilience is enabled in large part by bridging different branches of knowledge by establishing what we term interbranch programs. In addition to the abovementioned findings, the paper links ongoing discussions regarding change in HE systems and institutions to the literature on organizational resilience, and it advances insights for a possible future theory of how adaptation plays out in the academic core over time.

Drawing on communities of practice and social cognitive learning theories, this paper explores language teachers' beliefs, knowledge and practices concerning the provision of high-quality education to learners with specific learning difficulties in various educational settings around the world. The data sample for this paper comprises qualitative data (videorecorded interviews and teaching resources) collected from six teachers working across various educational settings (primary, secondary, college and university) across several geographical areas (Europe, Middle East, and Southeast Asia). Thematic analysis was adopted to analyse the data. The findings suggest that teachers continue to experience challenges in educating learners with specific learning difficulties regardless of the educational setting. Limited opportunities for receiving specialised training in this area have been identified by several teachers as one of the key factors affecting the quality of their practice. The change in the mode of instruction from face-to-face to online was not always reported as negatively affecting the quality of educational provision to learners with specific learning difficulties. Technology-assisted online lesson delivery was seen as being advantageous to learners with some types of learning difficulties. Findings from this paper can be useful to teacher-practitioners and teacher-educators who are interested in improving the quality of language education for learners with specific learning difficulties.

Since the mid 1990s vocational and education and training systems across Europe have had to respond to a number of external factors which have transformed the demand for skills. This paper examines the way in which VET systems have responded to the external factors and increase their resilience in the face of external shocks of one kind or another. The paper also reveals the way in which VET increasing established itself as a mainstream option for young people over the same period because of its capacity to deliver skills which the labour market demands.

Both the transformation from innovation systems to innovation ecosystems and university reforms in such a context require a renewed understanding of the nature of universities and their roles in society. While the recent flourishing concepts about new models of universities suggest that the notion of an entrepreneurial university needs to be replaced by a more suitable concept to capture the unprecedented changes in universities in the societal transformation, the features of a new model of university described by these concepts can hardly fit into a consistent framework. This paper responds to this research gap by integrating both conceptual and empirical literature about the transformations or reforms of universities, mainly in the European context. Our major research findings are as follows. First, we identified characteristics of an ideal-type university in innovation ecosystems, named a sustainable entrepreneurial university (SEU), in comparison with those of an entrepreneurial university. Second, we elaborated on three emerging roles of the SEU in innovation ecosystems. Third, we found that while a transition from entrepreneurial universities to SEUs can be seen in European university reforms, the paces of the transformations vary. At the end of the paper, we discuss the scholarly and policy implications of our research findings.

Since it was first published by the Council of Europe in 2001, the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) has become one of the most widely referenced documents in language education, particularly in English language teaching and assessment (Savski, in press). The recently released CEFR Companion Volume (2020), with its new descriptions of plurilingual and pluricultural competence and mediation, has done much to extend the potential of the framework, as it provides a more concrete foundation for using CEFR to support heteroglossic pedagogies. In this way, CEFR has acquired a greater level of potential relevance to innovative pedagogies in English language education, such as Global Englishes Language Teaching (GELT), which seeks to equip learners with communicative skills and dispositions needed for success in a world where the target interlocutors are linguistically and culturally diverse (Rose & Galloway, 2019). In this paper, we examine the prospects for using CEFR to support heteroglossic pedagogies like GELT, highlighting points of convergence between descriptions of competence in CEFR and current scholarship in Global Englishes, as well as points of divergence between the two. We underline the need to embed CEFR in decentralizing educational reforms, in which the framework is used to facilitate teacher agency, rather than to impose objectives and methods upon them.

In times of globalisation of higher education, alternative theoretical and methodological approaches were introduced in the field of comparative higher education research. To stimulate the debate on this issue, this paper firstly addresses them theoretically by combining the concept of institutional isomorphism and the 'glonacal' analytical heuristic. On this basis, it discusses arguments in favour of convergence and diversity from the perspective of the internationalisation of higher education and also points to the limits of institutional isomorphism resulting from 'glonacal' influences of agencies and agency on the development of (internationalisation of) higher education. Secondly, the paper also draws attention to the influence of globalisation on the selection of methodology in comparative higher education research by exposing the limits of methodological nationalism. Along these lines, it portrays the reversed pyramid model of different horizontal and vertical levels of comparisons with which it establishes the (missing) link between the selected theoretical and methodological framework of comparative (higher education) research. In conclusion, it acknowledges the need to integrate the contextual element into the comparative framework which allows thorough analysis of complex relationships between globalisation and higher education both theoretically and methodologically.

The ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic has revolutionized the education system and forced fundamental changes in the teaching-learning process. The present study aims to explore various modes of education used by educational institutions across the world and provide a holistic understanding of different measures taken by governments and universities to endure the crippling crisis. The radical shift to digital pedagogy followed by online assessments and examinations brought new experiences to both educators and learners. This paper elucidates the extraordinary challenges encountered by various stakeholders in making the required shift to digital learning and the substantial attempts made by educational institutions to minimize learning losses. The paper also presents various opportunities induced by the COVID-19 pandemic and highlights the need to develop appropriate mechanisms to deal with such an unforeseen crisis in future. To this effect, some recommendations have been made that may enable educational institutions to eliminate adversities and maintain academic integrity in tempestuous times.

The paper discusses the main issues which emerge for the university as an institution in the European context from the development of the lifelong learning paradigm. It focuses on both the opportunity-creating and tension-provoking presence of the lifelong learning concept in the university's institutional environment. The analysis is based on a thematic review of articles published in the "International Journal of Lifelong Education (IJLE)" during the four decades of its existence. The paper argues that: (1) the implementation of lifelong learning requires a profound change in the systemic characteristics of the university institution and cannot be limited to the establishment of departments of adult and continuing education; (2) without being uncritically perceived, lifelong learning is a strategy that can help universities successfully address some of their main problems and continue to develop as a key institution of societies in the 21st century and (3) in the European context, the institutional model that can embody the paradigm for lifelong learning and at the same time contains the possibility of preserving the specificity of university as an institution, is best symbolised by a cathedral.

This paper examines transnational circulation of political and pedagogical ideas associated with "éducation permanente" with particular reference to post-war Western Europe. It offers a socio-historical reconstruction of pan-European dissemination and reception of policy repertoires articulated by governmental and non-governmental policy actors. It focuses on advocacy regarding permanent education as a pan-European repertoire associated with the Council of Europe during the 1960s and 1970s. The paper explores involvement of French and other francophone nationals in circulatory regimes, who were engaged in mediating partisan reform aspirations, exchange of information, and dissemination of innovative practices at national, transnational, and pan-European levels. The more specific focus of this paper addresses participation of 'rooted cosmopolitans' in policy formation, who are defined as policy actors rooted in specific national contexts, but who engage in regular activities involving their participation in transnational networks. The conclusions call for further research into circulatory regimes at local, sub-national, regional, national, bilateral, transnational, and pan-European during the 1960s and 1970s. Such research should focus on revisiting different expert, reformist, missionary, and militant networks responsible for building peripatetic 'scholar-militant-activist' coalitions that historically contributed to pan-European policy repertoires seeking to mobilise citizens to participate in the unfinished political project of pan-European cultural democracy.

The paper explores how doctoral education and doctoral researchers in Europe are currently positioned, in relation to changes in the conditions of academic work and in the context of recent critiques of the doctorate (Cardoso, S., O. Tavares, C. Sin, and T. Carvalho. 2020. "Structural and Institutional Transformations in Doctoral Education: Social, Political and Student Expectations." Palgrave Macmillan/Springer Nature; Whittington, K., and S. Barnes. 2021. "The Changing Face of Doctoral Education. "In "The Future of Doctoral Education," edited by R. Bongaart, and A. Lee, 5-17. Routledge.). Two research questions, one about doctoral researcher visibility/invisibility and the other concerning how holistic changes to doctoral education might be approached, are posed. The paper first considers the extent to which doctoral researchers are rendered invisible in their universities and what the negative and positive consequences of this are for doctoral candidates. A conceptual framework for examining invisible paid or unpaid work, drawing on Hatton's (Hatton, E. 2017. "Mechanisms of Invisibility: Rethinking the Concept of Invisible Work." "Work, Employment and Society" 31 (2): 336-351) research about invisible paid work and disadvantage, is used to shape this discussion. The same framework is used to explore both existing critiques of the doctorate and recent significant changes to academic work and how they may have shaped or should shape, doctoral education. Finally, the paper examines a possible holistic reframing of the doctorate, drawing on work by Morley (Morley, L. 2013. Women and Higher Education Leadership: Absences and Aspirations), exploring how doctoral candidates and supervisors as people, universities as organisations and the knowledge that feeds into doctoral theses, could all be changed for the better.

Purpose: This paper aims to propose a thesis about the historical evolution of the relationship of the European University in relation to the idea of social responsibility. Design/methodology/approach: This paper is philosophical, conceptual and theoretical and in proffering a bold thesis, has an argumentative character appropriate to that style. Findings: Three stages can be identified over the past 200 years in the relationship between the university and the matter of social responsibility, being successively tacit, weak and now hybrid. In the present stage, new spaces are opening for the university to transcend social responsibility, moving to a worldly and earthly responsibility. However, this new stage is having to contend against the university in an age of cognitive capitalism. As such, a large but hitherto unnoticed culture war is present, the outcome of which is unclear. Research limitations/implications: The scholarship informing this paper is wide-ranging and multi-disciplinary (history, social theory, philosophy, critical higher education studies, literature on the idea of the university, comparative higher education, ethics and sociology of knowledge), as it has to be in sustaining the large thesis being contended for, and it has broad hinterlands, which can only lightly be intimated. Practical implications: The key implication is that the idea of social responsibility is currently being construed too narrowly and that, therefore, universities -- in developing their corporate strategies and missions -- should be more ambitious and set their responsibility goals against horizons that go well beyond the social realm. Originality/value The thesis developed here is original in offering a three-stage theory of a 200-year evolution of the socially responsible European university. A new stage of an Earthly responsibility is glimpsed but it is having to contend with a continuing performative university, so leading to a hidden culture war and such that the future of university social responsibility is in doubt.

This paper is a survey paper for the special issue on changes in Eastern European mathematics education in recent decades. In it I attempt to describe briefly the development of Eastern European mathematics education during the years that preceded the changes of the late 1980s and early 1990s, and to indicate certain questions for research pertaining to the subsequent period. Existing scientific literature about these topics is also discussed. One of the key problems that must inevitably be addressed is the problem of influence in mathematics education, which may be linked to quite varied political and organizational circumstances. The questions raised in the paper may be posed with respect to other countries as well, but in the countries of Eastern Europe, with their tumultuous and complex political history, the social aspect may be observed in greater relief than anywhere else. It is assumed that the analysis of general tendencies and patterns of development will be of interest even to a readership whose pursuits are otherwise far from Eastern Europe.

Higher education in general, and engineering higher education in particular, is constantly under pressure to introduce reforms that improve the employability of graduates. Among the most common claims is the development of a more active and competency-based teaching oriented to the development of professional and personal skills. The university institution responds to these claims, sometimes in a timid way, but others by embarking on great transformation projects. A good example of this is the project to build the European Higher Education Area. However, the challenge of developing a more active and competency-based teaching faces numerous difficulties and barriers because many of the necessary changes are in sharp contrast with a status quo that has been consolidated over centuries. Difficulties and barriers include a lack of deep understanding (and even lack of acceptance) of some of the implications of the challenges we are facing, the learning of new techniques and tools that are not easy to use or unsuitable organizational structures. In this paper, we explore the nature of some of the challenges and review the difficulties and barriers most often mentioned by those who dare to try. Anyone who wants to address the challenges or has a responsibility to facilitate changes should be aware of all these difficulties and barriers.

This conceptual and descriptive study examines the critical issues, challenges and priorities for European higher education (HE) leaders, drawing upon the theory, practice and experience of leaders inside and outside the open and distance learning (ODL) field. Focussing on the emerging vantage points of the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR), global trends and the post-pandemic HE landscape, the article discusses their impact on organisational architecture and the emerging leadership roles for driving organisational values, change and sustainability. The authors argue that to maintain institutional stability and agility, leaders must interpret the current zeitgeist to set priorities, build decision-action packages and embrace a new organisational architecture: one characterised by flexible structures, a clear vision of the desired future, a culture of trust and openness, a comprehensive and deep understanding and optimum application of employee skill and talent, and the effective implementation of digital tools and curriculum structures in pedagogically meaningful ways. Leaders must be adaptable, agile and innovative, with the capacity to understand, identify and support the forms of leadership appropriate to their strategic objectives and institutional culture. The paper concludes by targeting critical priorities and actions that leaders must navigate to create innovative and dynamic futures for their institutions.

This paper explores the declining trend of fine arts education in secondary schools. We examine mechanisms that may explain this phenomenon on structural levels of policymaking and policy implementation in different areas of the education system. What will be defined as the "selection device" refers to the structurally determined selection of educational content at various policy levels of society. We argue that the choices politicians, principals, students, and parents make are regulated by "nudging" as an underlying principle of the selective device. By presenting students with "rational choice" alternatives, they are gently pressuring them away from selecting arts courses. This redirection is discursively conveyed by schools, but systematically governed by national and international guidelines in which the fine arts have a relatively low status. The declining legitimacy of arts subjects in secondary education can thus be seen as an outcome of policies embedded in the education system. By manipulating the features of the selection device, the transnational movement of the New Right exerts control over educational policy.

In today's age of knowledge and technology, societies are changing fast, on both macro and micro levels. Hardly anyone could have predicted several years ago such an acceleration of change and its impact on society, and in particular, on higher education. In Europe as well as globally, higher education has been undergoing many changes for more than two decades. In many countries, the number of higher education institutions has increased, mass education has replaced more elite systems, universities have adopted different agenda, and research has become more competitive. In this new context, doctoral education has also needed to be redefined in order to better respond to societal and academic challenges. Doctoral education--a crucial segment of higher education and the main link between the European Higher Education Area and the European Research Area--has been receiving continuous attention for more than 15 years. This paper provides an overall view on changes in doctoral education in Europe, the background of this change process, and the context that led to these major changes. The main analysis will be presented from a European academic context perspective, but it will also reflect a global perspective. It will provide an analysis of all the milestones and consider the relevant policies and recommendations on the supranational level and their reflection on the national level. While taking the reader on a 15-year journey of the doctoral education system in Europe, a brief look to the future of doctoral education will be sketched as well.

Within political philosophy and particularly in the work of Chantal Mouffe and Hannah Arendt, "agonism" has been described as representing the notion of being able to challenge and dissent in a productive way. However, little is known about how agonism is used in the educational literature, other than some applications relevant to democratic education. This paper considers the use of agonism in the educational literature drawing on the findings of a systematic scoping review exploring how it has been used in the context of education. Five databases were searched for literature published using agonism within the context of education to map the existing body of work in a systematic fashion, and to explore how agonism has been differently conceptualised and utilised by researchers in the field of education. The findings suggest that there have been a range of attempts to apply agonistic principles in different educational sub-fields (including, citizenship education, early years education, initial teacher training, arts education and international education), and different interpretations of such principles into education based on different philosophical underpinnings (dissociative and associative approaches). As agonism is mostly explored in a theoretical way, we also discuss the potential of abstract theoretical agonistic principles from different philosophical traditions to be translated into meaningful practical applications for education in order to inform curriculum development, infuse democratic principles into classroom practice, and help to negotiate deep-running tensions amongst key stakeholders in education.

In our paper, we aim to give an overview about the emergence and evolvement of the history of education in Hungary. Nevertheless, we intend to surpass the traditional approach of giving a schematic description of these processes as we would like to depict the interconnectedness of the Hungarian history of education with the European research tendencies and the thematic variety of the Hungarian research activities. We used literature analysis, historical source analysis and descriptive statistical analysis as primary methods. Within Hungary, we pay special attention to the University of Budapest but we also reflect special peculiarities regarding the other full universities in the country. The Hungarian history of education followed the pathway of the German-speaking countries regarding the approach and the function until 1948. History of education had a self-legitimising role in the emerging national education system and modernised university environment; however, this characteristic feature did not exclude the incorporation of international research approaches. This function was slightly altered in the interwar period since leading researchers of the subfield contributed to maintaining the ideological coherence of the political structure. During the socialist period, researchers were expected to follow the directives of their Soviet colleagues; however, in the 1970s the homogeneity in themes and research approaches began loosening. As the result of the political regime change in 1989/1990, Hungarian research was given an opportunity to be integrated into the European exchange of ideas and implement research approaches prevalent in Western countries.

To achieve a successful policy transfer from one country to another, knowledge is required about the framework conditions of the country to which the policy is transferred. An important framework condition to consider is cultural context. Therefore, this paper uses a combination of cultural definitions which consider culture as a driver for both the interpretation of its members and for the communicative and interactive behaviour within a community. This contribution presents a cultural concept to inform policy transfer from a European context to China. Chinese philosophical approaches such as Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism, as well as the political history of China, are used to identify individual perspectives within a community that depends, among others. A pilot study for testing the peer review process in vocational education and training will also help build a better understanding of how adjustments, transfer errors and side effects can be culturally explained.

The main purpose of this paper is to explore from a sociological point of view the most important and current globalist educational projects, which have been adopted or supported by relevant institutions and associations of the European Union. Therefore, this paper deals with the synthesis of previous knowledge on education policy issues in the Union and the analysis of its documents related to education. Accordingly, a method of content analysis was applied to identify and describe the most important educational projects in the European Union, and then determine their interconnectedness, correlation and coherence with European integration and globalization processes in the world, as well as their impact on educational reforms. system of European countries. Based on the research results, three dominant projects crystallized: a) Global education - as a project of political education and upbringing, which is aimed at developing a globalist political culture and is intended for formal and non-formal education and upbringing, with special attention to increasing knowledge on globalization and gaining political awareness of the interdependence of people on the planet and the improvement of their lives on European values and the principles of multiculturalism and sustainable development; b) Dual education - a project aimed at creating a professional, cheap, mobile and usable workforce of predominantly secondary education, which can be included in the work process immediately after graduation, mainly in industry, financial institutions and the service sector; and c) The Bologna Process - as a project of higher education reform, defined in order to create a European higher education zone, internationally competitive, adaptable to social change and knowledge markets, but also education that would allow greater mobility of students, teachers and non-teaching staff, as and faster mobility and the ability to employ a highly educated workforce. The common feature of Dual Education and the Bologna Process is that these projects are directly related to the world of work and the global market, so the requirements for the development of entrepreneurship within the educational process at these levels of education are increasingly emphasized. Education policy makers in the European Union strive to follow the rhythm of European integration and globalization processes and in the function of these processes create new concepts of education, which include: new methods of learning with the help of information and communication technologies, modernization of educational content in accordance with new technological challenges. educational profiles, as well as intercultural values and knowledge in order to overcome language and cultural barriers. In addition, the accelerated progress of the global society requires a constant need to improve the acquired competencies, but also to learn new ones, which is also involved in the mentioned projects. In the conclusion of this paper, it is pointed out that the mentioned educational projects are in accordance with the processes of European integration and globalization; that they are caused by external political and economic influences, and not by the internal dynamics of the development of education and the demands of the academic community; and that these projects determine educational reforms and thus become a condicio sine quo non in European countries that are not members of the European Union. It is recommended, especially for researchers, teachers and education policy makers, to get acquainted with the results of this research, in order to better understand the role of education in European integration and globalist processes in the modern world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite existing empirical work that explores the multiple ways in which students develop a sense of belonging in higher education, there is a dearth of comparative research about the extent to which the concepts of community and belonging are central to what it means to be a student and how students in different national contexts (beyond Anglophone countries) construct community and belonging. Drawing on qualitative data from students from six European countries, we provide an account of conceptualisations of community and belonging. Specifically, this paper extends discussions around community and belonging in higher education through comparative inquiry. Notwithstanding the individualised and consumerist framing of students accompanied by market reforms in higher education across Europe, it shows that the notion of community and/or belonging features prominently in students' narratives. We also demonstrate how a sense of community and belonging is experienced on different levels. Crucially, the emphasis placed on community in students' sense of belonging varies by the country, pointing towards the continued influence of distinctive national traditions, structures and norms of higher education. Our analysis contributes to wider debates about the development of a European Higher Education Area and its impact on European homogenisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Political science has long viewed education as an instrumental factor in developing support for democracy and beneficial for democratization. However, governments, both democratic and authoritarian, have substantial control over the curriculum and develop education institutions with the specific aim to instill in students the norms and values that underpin the regime. With this in mind, this study asks, does the effect of education vary by the political regime in which education was undertaken? We use a quasi-experimental approach exploiting European compulsory schooling reforms, implemented under both democratic and authoritarian regimes, to answer this question. We find that education has no effect on principle and functional support for democracy, but that education's effect on satisfaction with democracy is conditional on regime type. For those educated under a democratic regime, education led to greater satisfaction with democracy, whereas those educated under an authoritarian regime became less satisfied with democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is no shortage of innovative digital business ideas in Europe, but only a few companies are expanding or creating access to global markets, while other major commercial players (often benefiting from government support, low regulatory standards or low tax rates) threaten Europe's influence on technological development and challenge European values and interests. Scholars in the EU believe that Europe should strive for both open strategic autonomy and technological sovereignty, reducing its dependence on third countries for some key technologies, especially in terms of security. In addition, it can be noted that in an increasingly geopolitically fragmented world with strong players, the EU is able to defend its position only in certain cases. As a trading superpower with a multilateral order, with its social economy model, it achieves its goals if it has the highest qualitative advantages. The EU seeks strategic autonomy, which does not require the obligatory presence on any side in the G-2 economic conflict (USA and China)."Horizon Europe" presents the so-called "EU Missions", which means specific goals to be achieved through research and innovation. In this case, managers are responsible for each goal. These five missions include: adaptation to climate change; fight against cancer; restoration of oceans and waters; climate-neutral smart cities; and soil. At the EU level, great efforts are being made to support the competitiveness of European industry by creating a level playing field, constantly adjusting the legal framework (policy of the order) in order to change the economic reality and encourage investment. The criticism of an active industrial policy is that it has certain risks. The question arises: what is the basis of this problem and how to identify opportunities to mitigate it?. First, given that it is about supporting a particular sector or technology, industrial policy is at high risk of being seized and influenced by interest groups. Moreover, in times of rapid technological change, there is a risk of focusing resources on building leadership in areas/technologies that can quickly lose strategic relevance. Finally, there is the risk of maintaining support even when it is no longer needed or when it becomes clear that the policy is not working, and there is also the risk of early termination of support. This is especially true when political leaders are actively involved in the process, linking the success of the policy to the success of the particular firm that serves as their "national champion". Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in April 2022, the EU government unveiled a "recovery package" of renewable energy policy reforms. It aims for 80 percent renewable energy in 2030 and 100 percent in 2035, meaning the annual expansion must quadruple to reach the 215 gigawatt target set by the end of the decade. In this area, industrial policy has been little affected, indicating that it (industrial policy) has had only a limited positive impact on innovation and the economy as a whole. At the same time, this created huge financial obligations for governments. Since the 1980s, this belief in the limited power of industrial policy (and governments more broadly) has spread to developing countries as well. Most of them, after two decades of massive public investment, were finally forced into market liberalization (what has been called the "Washington Consensus"). Based on the identified successes and failures, there are six key features that should be taken into account when developing successful industrial policies in order to maximize their impact on innovation and minimize the associated risks. Features of the European industrial policy: I. Orientation to the future. Industrial policy should focus on present and future innovation. Its purpose is to stimulate those industries in which market failure prevents the desired equilibrium from being established. This approach contributes to the strategic autonomy of the EU. II. Focus on industry and technology. Focus on areas and technologies, not individual companies. The goal of industrial policy is to promote long-term competitiveness and sustainable growth without compromising consumers. III. Competition is power. An effective industrial policy should not be aimed at strengthening existing players in the market. An effective industrial policy should not weaken competition policy, especially through mergers and acquisitions. IV. The actions of economic policy are carried out from the top down, but also from the bottom up. Industrial policy is a top-down approach to economic development. However, it should not be transferred to economic planning. It should encourage experimentation and innovation from the bottom up. V. Accountability, impartiality and adaptability of industrial policy. Transparency is key to preventing or reducing the risk of undue pressure on policy from interest groups. Policy outcomes and assumptions need to be constantly monitored and adapted quickly if necessary. VI. Holistic (unifying) approach. A successful industrial policy should not only promote innovation in critical technological areas (for example, through targeted research and development), but also use the tools to boost demand growth in these sectors. Industrial policy, even if successful, may have some negative side effects that need to be mitigated. In this regard, the key role belongs to the green and digital transformation, which is rapidly expanding and gaining more importance, ensuring the prosperity of Europe in the 21st century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]