Transnational cooperation across an institution’s education and research activities deliveries a broad range of activities, especially if the HEI has a policy in place to mainstream innovative practices and ideas developed in alliances and projects in the whole institution.

Strategic research partnerships with European HEIs provide a means to enhance the reputation and brand of HEIs. Networks with other European HEIs and organisations offer a place where institutions can find and develop new opportunities, facilitate and foster research opportunities and the international mobility of students and staff.

International partnerships and networks typically function well when there is a strong linkage between practical interests and benefits of the daily research and the wider institutional aims of the partner organisations. Partnerships work best when they have clear objectives and criteria for HEIs and partner organisation to engage in collaboration.

Enhancing the organisational impact of participation in European research networks and partnerships requires attention on the following:

• Identification of goals and added value with regard to how these could contribute to the overall strategic objectives and the entrepreneurial agenda
• Cyclical evaluation of the networks’ organisational structure and impacts
• The networks’ leadership is in line with the institution’s interests and at the same time facilitating on-going innovation
• Provision of sustained resources to serve/manage the networks, including language support needed for staff and students to participate in international partnerships and their activities
• Dissemination of outputs throughout the institution

Access to new ideas for teaching and learning in the international environment – for example through the European University Alliances, other Erasmus+ Programme funded initiatives or the EIT Higher Education Initiative - can increase an HEI’s ability to compete in international markets. HEIs ideally have a teaching and learning environment that is tailored to a global audience.

Entrepreneurial HEIs should also invest in an internationally orientated curriculum, aimed at preparing students for performing professionally and socially in an international and multicultural context. This is not only about curriculum content, but also about the way in which the content is taught, learned and assessed and how students are supported within their programmes. Such an internationalised curriculum embraces both ‘internationalisation abroad’ and ‘internationalisation at home’ by providing opportunities for staff and students to experience education and work placements in other countries whilst, at the same time, bringing new cultural experiences to the home campus through sharing international teaching, learning and research experience in multicultural classrooms.

HEIs should also channel efforts towards internationalising the curriculum for students who are reluctant to move abroad. This can be accomplished through working online with students and staff from partner institutions in multiple geographic areas. ICT can offer new educational opportunities at a lower cost and with more flexibility, irrespective of their physical location (e.g., online student collaboration, virtual mobility, virtual field trips and virtual learning environments, e-pedagogy, distance learning, etc.). HEIs should raise awareness of how ICT can enhance the learning experience of students by introducing them to cross-board educational opportunities such as MOOCs (Massive Online Open Courses).