Understanding European Universities Initiative as the limestone to cement Europe together: A review of existing literature

Abstract

Fostering a sense of belonging is ofthen seen as the foundation that unites Europe. Forty-four alliances were created among European universities since 2020. This initiative came about as a recognition of the lack of capacity of the European Union to create a European citizenship. This study focuses on summarising the results and lines of research within this European Universities Initiative (EUI) by completing action research and a review of existing literature. A scoping review was used to assign each of the articles found to one of the analytical variables: lecturers, students, and managers. Where a study fell into more than one category, it was assigned individually to each variable. The results show that most of the studies focus on a single university or country. Furthermore, there is a disproportionate interest in students, to the detriment of lecturers and managers. Based on the literature review analysis, the conclusions ascertain that the alliances need a full rebranding to achieve visibility and communicate their purpose. The application of an action research methodology has allowed the authors to identify the lack of branding of the initiative and they propose the term EuroAgora Digital University (EDU) to describe the new paradigm that these EDUs stand for. In the wake of the European Union’s efforts to forge a unified educational space, the European Universities Initiative (EUI) emerges as a pivotal experiment in fostering a European identity through higher education. This paper delves into the transformative potential of the EUI, set against the backdrop of ongoing debates about the Europeanisation of education and the quest for cohesive European citizenship.