The priority focus for this project is in building an inclusive higher education system. In training and realising innovations in Internationalisation at Home pedagogies (TRIP) we aim to build robust frameworks and systems to up-skill staff and students to become more inclusive and to hold institutions accountable through a quality assured process which enables purposeful engagement with the UNSDGs. The global benefit of such an approach reflects our commitment to ensuring that higher education produce globally engaged graduates who are capable of working interculturally to solve problems of global significance. Here, we focus on ideas of global citizenship as a frame for raising awareness of global societal challenges and enabling participation in creative solutions through an IaH based module that allows students in engage in virtual mobility. Also, in line with the European University Association’s mission, our goal is to advance the ethos of ‘university without walls’, by ensuring that higher education provides effective mechanisms for the design and delivery of curricula that are on the one hand, inclusive and providing means to access transversal skills (e.g. intercultural competence and global citizenship) while on the other hand, are underpinned by the commitment of higher education to address key societal challenges. Our approach explicitly recognises the importance of interdependencies between and within the SDGs and key pillars underpinned by the European Commission including, but not limited to Sustainability; Diversity and Inclusion, Civil Society, Digital Capacity and Widening participation. We are keen to move away from a process where the UN SDGs are evoked in a time of sustainability washing and provide a framework for effective operationalisation centred around the SDG4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
TRIP is a conglomeration of five European Universities: University of Limerick, Ireland; Matej Bel University, Slovakia; University of Flensburg, Germany; Complutense University Madrid, Spain; and University Rennes 2, France.
TRIP website: https://www.trip-project.eu/