Belgian universities among selected institutes to develop European diploma certificate

Six higher education projects were selected to develop a certificate that will allow future "European diplomas" to be recognised in the various Member States, the European Commission announced on Tuesday.

This label would reflect the knowledge acquired by students who have followed a joint programme in several institutions and countries, in several languages, and who have benefited from the mobility opportunities offered by Erasmus+, as well as from transdisciplinary teaching approaches.

Several Belgian higher education institutions are part of the projects: the Free University of Brussels (ULB), the Catholic University of Leuven (KUL), the University of Ghent (UGent), the University of Antwerp (UAntwerpen) and the LUCA School of Arts.

The selected projects bring together 90 higher education institutions from the EU, Norway, Turkey, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, said Education Commissioner Mariya Gabriel.

Four other pilot projects have been selected to test a future European legal status for "alliances" of higher education institutions. This would allow for joint strategic decisions, the design of joint curricula or the pooling of human and technical resources and capacities. One of these projects involves the University of Liège (ULg).

Each selected pilot project will be eligible for a maximum budget of €200,000 under the Erasmus+ programme for one year, starting in spring 2023.

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