This special issue of Global Focus celebrates twenty years of EFMD’s transformative engagement in international projects, showcasing the remarkable impact and stories from individuals who have participated in these initiatives. Over the past two decades, EFMD has played a pivotal role in advancing higher education, championing internationalisation, fostering entrepreneurship in management education, driving digital transformation, and advocating for inclusivity, gender equality, and the societal impact of universities. This article highlights testimonials that bring these achievements to life, offering a first-hand glimpse into the personal and professional growth fostered by over 70 projects.

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AMDISA – Association of Management Development Institutions in South Asia, established in 1989, is a network of Management Education and Management Development Institutions in South Asia. It is an international not-for-profit association and has 322 institutional members. Its mission is to ‘Promote management education and management development activities in South Asia, taking into account the economic, social and cultural context of the region, with the firm dedication to the worldwide exchange of experience and ideas in the fields concerned’.

EFMD and AMDISA have a long history of association, the most noteworthy and identifiable of which has been in the context of EFMD’s assistance in establishing the AMDISA International Quality Assurance programme – SAQS.  SAQS was launched in 2003 by AMDISA and emerged from an EFMD-AMDISA cooperation through  an EU-funded Asia-Link project in 2003-04. SAQS is inspired by EFMD’s EQUIS criteria guidelines. Christophe Terrasse, Director of International Projects at EFMD was actively involved in the development of this programme.  It is noteworthy to mention that since its launch in 2003-04, SAQS has completed over 80 accreditations in South Asia. More recently, having been inspired by the success of the SAQS International Quality Assurance project, EFMD’s International Project Division has actively engaged with AMDISA in the formulation of the Erasmus Capacity Building Project to develop a quality assurance and accreditation system for distance/digital education in South Asia. This project is in the advanced stages of report preparation and once approved by Erasmus will be another milestone in the EFMD Global and AMDISA collaboration. Being a regional association AMDISA values its time-tested partnership with EFMD’s International Projects Division and is hopeful that such meaningful and relevant projects will continue to be taken up in the realm of management and management development in South Asia in the times to come.

– C. Ramakrishna –
Executive Director, AMDISA
Association of Management Development Institutions in South Asia,
University of Hyderabad Campus, India

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With projects, support, and shared experience, we are developing a higher education system that promotes excellence in academics and meets the challenges of our dynamic society. Cooperation with EFMD within the frames of the Erasmus+ Capacity Building projects has been highly beneficial in transforming the landscape of higher education in Georgia. Consequently, such projects as TNE_QA-Promoting Quality and Recognition of Transnational Education in Armenia and Georgia have enhanced our quality assurance frameworks for participating institutions to achieve international standards for transnational education. It has given substantial meaning to cross-border partnerships, raised the standard of academic curricula, and widened access to quality education.

The project SQUARE-Strengthening the QUality and RElevance of the 3rd mission in Georgian universities was instrumental for us in redefining our perception of the university mission. With multi-level stakeholder involvement we have managed to create a wider sense of societal engagement, knowledge transfer, and entrepreneurship as intrinsic parts of academic life. Indeed, this has been a cultural shift toward better collaboration between academia and the community where we have refined our goals, according to the needs of society, for effective change in education.

EFMD has been instrumental in supporting our conferences and linking us to various stakeholders and partners. This support has enabled us to expand our network, share best practices, and also learn from international experiences that have further enhanced our innovative and collaborative capacity.

Our recent engagement in the PRODIGE project, Promotion of Digital Education in Georgia for High Quality, has provided yet another example of our commitment to innovation. PRODIGE will foster multi-level policy development, quality institutional practices, and capacity building. It will equip the institutions with tools that will help them integrate digital methodologies within our curricula, ensuring that we are ready to meet the challenging demands of the education sector.

I am looking forward to the continuing fruitful partnership with EFMD, as we advance even further for the benefit of our institutions and communities.

– Irma Grdzelidze –
Head of Strategic Development Department and International Accreditation Office at Caucasus University and Associate Professor Department of Education
Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University

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The international projects FORINT and IMPALA are examples of good practices for the improvement of the quality and relevance of Cuban higher education. FORINT provided a methodology for the elaboration and implementation of strategic internationalisation plans in higher education institutions (HEIs). IMPALA developed an impact assessment framework for the third mission of universities. Both projects, part of the Erasmus+ programme, formed the theoretical and methodological basis for the conception and development of the INTESCUBA I and II projects aimed at all universities and Science, Technology and Innovation Entities attached to the Ministry of Higher Education. From these, capacities were generated for the rest of the HEIs, which allowed for the evolution of a more strategic, focused and assertive internationalisation process, with the integration of the international dimension in the institution’s strategic planning and in line with the demands of the current context. Another relevant result was the creation of capacities in local actors that contributed to the development of innovative systems. With a national and international scope, the creation of the National Internationalisation Network (INTERRED CUBA) has allowed for inter-institutional cooperation, the exchange of good practices and knowledge transfer. Internationalisation is now a priority that enables the international dimension to be reflected in the university’s mission and vision.

The alliance with EFMD and in particular, with its International Projects department, has contributed to strengthening institutional capacity. It has promoted the development of a process of incorporating new international trends into university management. Additionally, the partnership has helped Cuban higher education take advantage of international cooperation opportunities. This has supported the fulfillment of Cuba’s commitments to the 2030 Agenda and addressed the priorities within the current Cuban context.

– Mabelin Armenteros Amaya –
Vice-Rector and Professor, Agrarian University of Havana “Fructuoso Rodríguez Pérez”

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FoSentHE, a transformative project funded by the European Commission: Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) Tempus scheme from January 2009 to January 2012, sought to enhance entrepreneurship education across Europe and Israel. With EFMD as the quality assurance partner, the initiative united universities from Croatia, Austria, France, Israel, Lithuania, Poland, and Slovenia, fostering community and collaboration between countries, firms, and student organisations. The project was granted €1.1 million, and the University of Zagreb’s Faculty of Economics and Business, led by Marina Dabić, was the grant holder.

The FoSentHE project set itself apart by introducing a pioneering curriculum that strongly emphasised sustainability, innovation, and integrated management. This unique approach engaged students and set a new standard in entrepreneurship education. FoSentHE established robust internal and external quality control systems, including publishing three books. These efforts ensure high educational standards across the consortium, providing our stakeholders with the assurance of quality and excellence. The FoSentHE project’s legacy thrives with ongoing participation in e-learning initiatives. EFMD played a crucial role in the FoSentHE project. It provided a unique forum for information-sharing, research, networking, and debate on innovation and best practices in management development. EFMD’s role as a catalyst to promote and enhance excellence in management development in Europe and worldwide was instrumental to the project’s success.

FoSentHE has created a vibrant interdisciplinary research environment, encouraging collaboration among academics, entrepreneurs, and practitioners. This initiative enhances entrepreneurial education and lays a strong foundation for future initiatives. Results are a testament to the quality groundwork established by FoSentHE, led by UNIZG FEB, and quality assurance monitoring by EFMD, Christophe Terrasse, and Boriana Marinova. Students have directly benefited from the courses developed under FoSentHE, a testament to its enduring impact on entrepreneurship education. The project has left a lasting impression on 1,452 students from the Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb, who have attended the International Entrepreneurship course, with a new cohort of 137 currently enrolled.

– Marina Dabić –
Professor and Director for Accreditations Faculty of Economics & Business
University of Zagreb

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NOVA University Lisbon, particularly its School of Business and Economics, has maintained a strong partnership with EFMD since the early days of EFMD’s accreditation initiatives for business programmes and institutions. This collaboration began with programme accreditations and gradually expanded to joint involvement in European-funded capacity-building projects, fostering significant international development. Initially concentrated within the School of Business and Economics, the scope of cooperation extended over time to include the broader university and its diverse fields of expertise.

I was initially engaged in a project in Cuba, first led by ESADE and then coordinated by EFMD, to support universities in enhancing their management education capabilities. This initiative eventually evolved into the IMPALA project, expanding to other Latin American countries, including Panama and Colombia, in partnership with several European higher education institutions. IMPALA was meant to enrich their national quality control systems, at the time limited to the external evaluation of the teaching and research domains, by incorporating the measure of impact. This experience was highly rewarding and paved the way for further collaborations, such as the SQUARE project in Georgia, which aimed to improve universities’ role in societal impact, and the UDI-Africa project, coordinated by NOVA in Angola and Mozambique, to empower African higher education institutions to promote sustainable, inclusive development in their regions.

Through projects in Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Africa, the collaboration between NOVA and EFMD has exemplified effective teamwork and aligned goals. While some planned initiatives in Israel, Senegal, and Mozambique did not materialise due to various challenges, the commitment and shared vision of NOVA and EFMD have solidified our partnership as a robust force in advancing Europe’s higher education mission on a global scale.

– João Amaro de Matos –
Vice-Rector
at Nova University Lisbon