EFMD has focused on strengthening internationalisation capacities, particularly through projects like FORINT for Latin American universities and ANTENA for Philippine institutions and ECAR in Azerbaijan. These projects have enhanced international collaboration, improved curricula, and facilitated student exchanges and exposed university staff to international best practices, encouraged regional cooperation, and facilitated partnerships with European peers. EFMD’s efforts have led to the creation of international networks, policy reforms, and the establishment of national higher education cooperation platforms. Currently, EFMD continues to support internationalisation efforts globally, with recent Erasmus+ projects aimed at enhancing International Relations Offices in African and Caucasian institutions. Through these initiatives, EFMD shares expertise on international standards, quality assurance, and networking, contributing to the overall strengthening of higher education worldwide.

In today’s globalised world, business schools encounter common challenges, such as the need for inclusive education, the growing use of digital tools across all sectors, and the importance of communicating knowledge and research to society. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) cannot respond alone to the amplitude of these issues; peering with other universities with different expertise and backgrounds can help to develop innovative and practical solutions. Donor organisations, including the European Union, offer an excellent opportunity to address specific issues through international projects, including improving the integration of refugee students, developing a curriculum for entrepreneurs on sustainable development, or creating a framework to assess the digital inclusion of students.

This international cooperation through projects is a key aspect of the internationalisation of higher education. Many scholars and university practitioners intended to conceptualise this term to understand its scope, activities, and the role of university actors. In this case, internationalisation is to be analysed as a comprehensive process to expose the school to an international perspective with the engagement of all university actors and components. This international perspective is covered through various activities, from curriculum or joint research, to student services and staff training seminars.

While many international relations managers face difficulties engaging in new activities due to staff motivation, missing partners, or limited resources, a solution can be found in international projects. During the project execution, all university actors, faculty, senior managers, administrative staff, and students meet and exchange with peers to address common and practical issues, breaking down barriers to find solutions together. It is also an opportunity to meet with other institutions and people from new countries or disciplines that can pave the way for new partnerships. All in one, international projects support the internationalisation strategy of the institutions.

Since 2000, EFMD has participated in over 70 projects that have gathered 476 institutions, business schools naturally but also universities, associations of HEIs, and public body representatives to address common issues and find practical international solutions. EFMD brought its resources and management education knowledge to expand the outreach of the project results and ensure their applicability to the business school sector. EFMD was a pioneer in exploring new trends for international higher education, from collaborative digital tools for courses to international virtual internships. EFMD supported the internationalisation journey of its partner institutions and continues to share its experience through international projects.

EFMD has also designed projects dedicated to the internationalisation of higher education. From 2016 to 2019, EFMD managed the FORINT project to strengthen the internationalisation capabilities of Latin American universities. At its completion stage, FORINT exposed 300 university staff members from seven institutions to a broad range of internationalisation topics. It provided them with practical solutions on how to conduct research with international partners, how to create internationally-focused curricula, and how to facilitate international student exchanges. This also encouraged a culture change on international affairs in each institution, which resulted in the increasing importance of the International Relations Office, the department in charge of international partnerships and exchanges, as a central contact point within the university for all international affairs. It triggered the development of deeper regional cooperation among Latin American institutions, with the renewal of partnership agreements and their extension to other disciplines. Finally, it paved the way for future collaboration with European peers on different topics, such as assessing the impact of the universities on their environment or establishing entrepreneurship centres with international peers. Despite its conclusion in 2019, the FORINT project remains a stepping stone in internationalisation for the eight Latin American universities involved.

While FORINT focused on Latin America, similar challenges are experienced by institutions from other parts of the world. During the ANTENA project (2018 – 2022) in the Philippines, EFMD shared the experience and recommendations of the FORINT partners for creating PHL In-Net, the internationalisation network of 10 universities and the National Commission of Higher Education. As part of the ECAR project (2020 – 2024), EFMD has collaborated with Azerbaijani universities and business schools to establish the National Conference of Rectors, the country’s first higher education cooperation platform. During the project, EFMD worked with various European associations of universities to present the role of international networks in their members’ internationalisation strategy.

Today, EFMD continues to collaborate with business schools worldwide on internationalisation topics. Two Erasmus+ projects have recently been granted to strengthen the International Relations Offices’ capabilities of African universities and Caucasian institutions. During their execution, EFMD will share its members’ experience and expertise on international standards and processes for ensuring the quality of education, research, and international networking. Altogether, these projects will strengthen higher education in the two regions and continue to be one tool for all HEIs to engage in internationalisation activities.

ANTENA

Internationalisation of Higher Education at the Philippines Network (ANTENA) accompanies the governance reforms at the ministry level to enhance the internationalisation capacities of universities in the Philippines. Activities included policy discussions, round tables and observation sessions in the Philippines and the EU, for the Philippine partners to be exposed to best practices in internationalisation and to streamline their internationalisation strategies and management guidelines.

ECAR

Establishment of the Rectors’ Conference in Azerbaijan (ECAR) is a project that established the rectors’ conference in Azerbaijan to promote networking and cooperation with national universities and support universities
in their internationalisation strategies.