New Modes of Mobility

In the Rome Declaration, of 25 March 2017, EU leaders’ called for ’a Union where citizens have new opportunities for cultural and social development and economic growth’ and pledged to work towards ’a Union where young people receive the best education and training and can study and find jobs across the continent’. Therefore, in higher education great emphasis has already been placed on internationalisation in order to develop the transversal skills of students. In contrast, currently widespread methods of mobility reach only a very limited number of students. Especially considering the many social and physically disadvantaged students in Europe, this is an intolerable situation. Moreover, a modern workforce simply requires employees possess interpersonal skills to act as real European citizens. In addition to the international aspects, employers in a globalised world seek graduates with skills related to digitalisation and interdisciplinary competencies. This is where “New Modes of Mobility” (NewM) addresses students, teachers and higher educational institutions. By creating modules and courses with aspects of virtual and hybrid mobility, barriers to gaining experience in internationalisation and digitalisation will be lowered. With this inclusive approach, socioeconomic, financial and health issues can be overcome, and a substantially higher number of students will be able to benefit from a state-of-the-art educational system. All the partners – University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt (FHWS) in Germany, Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences (SeAMK) in Finland, Stichting Fontys in the Netherlands, University of Zielona Góra (UZ) in Poland, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu (ULBS) in Romania and University of Debrecen in Hungary – will test the developed modules and courses. These are expected to increase•amount of students involved in international teaching and learning concepts – at least by 100%•awareness of internationalisation and transversal skills among students•knowhow of teachers as well as curriculum designers•joint course and curriculum design and implementation•number of students applying for learning mobility.The results will be presented at national and European level conferences and networks. Open access to the material developed - new models of mobility, virtual guide to build the capacity of the teachers to implement internationalisation at home, framework on a curriculum level, and New-Modes eBook - will be provided to other HEIs. National level education authorities will be sensitised on the results in order to present internationalisation at home as a vital option for educational institutions at all levels. Internationalisation at home should become a norm rather than an exception.