A quarterly publication of AQU Catalunya
Since it promotes integrated initiatives that lead to a dual/multiple degree or a joint degree via a single report, the European Approach opens up a wide range of extremely attractive opportunities.
In late 2023 we had to present the final design for the proposed international joint master’s degree titled “Innovative Design of themed Entertainment and Attractions for Sustainability” (IDEAS), which had been selected in the Erasmus Mundus Design Measures (EMDM) call in 2022. The rules required that we provide details of the accreditation process for the proposal in the final report; however, the Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters (EMJM) call, which we intended to apply for after receiving the EMDM (which is governed by the new Erasmus Mundus funding framework for 2021-2027) required that we submit ex-ante accreditation for the programme. The problem was obvious. We were preparing an international joint programme and, in order to proceed with the application, we had to coordinate three universities in three different countries and provide accreditation that would necessarily involve different processes to those we had been used to up until that moment. Consequently, even though we did not have any experience of it, it was clear that we could only move forward through the European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes.
And so that is what we did. The members of the three universities in the consortium, i.e. us (Rovira i Virgili University, URV), Breda University of Applied Sciences (BUas) and Université de la Côte d’Azur (UCA), were all located in countries that had quality agencies registered in the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR), and all of the countries in question were part of the European Approach. AQU Catalunya, for its part, immediately demonstrated its willingness to lead an assessment process that, according to the regulations, would have to be coordinated with the corresponding quality assurance agencies for the universities in each participating country; additionally, in November 2020 AQU Catalunya had published its Guide to the Accreditation of Joint Programmes Using the European Approach. This guide, which was updated in March 2025, can be found on the Agency’s website.
Thus, against this backdrop, and while immersed in preparing the self-evaluation report (SER), we were assessed by the External Assessment Committee (CAE); to which end, we prepared for and received its visit in late 2023 and obtained a favourable report in December that same year. Everything was progressing well and it looked like we were going to meet the objectives, until – at almost exactly the same time we obtained the accreditation – UCA withdrew from the project before the proposal could be submitted for the EMJM call in 2024. This meant that we now had to repeat the process with a new university (Libera Università di Lingue e Comunicazione (IULM), based in Milan), draft a new SER, notify the CAE, which itself had undergone modification as part of a second inter-agency assessment process also led by AQU Catalunya, and receive a new visit. Finally, we managed to obtain a new favourable report in January 2025. Along the way, we had a new learning experience: specifically, how to incorporate a university located in a country (Italy) that does not recognise the European Approach. We had to accredit the programme in accordance with the country’s own quality assurance system, while at the same time continue to work towards our joint endeavour. In fact, our experience mirrors that of international joint programmes involving universities in countries outside the European Union, such as the proposed Master’s Degree in Tourism Transformations for Regenerative Futures (MATTeRS) coordinated by the University of Girona and involving the universities of Oulu, Kenyatta and Mauritius. Indeed, I was the president of the CAE for this programme, which also obtained a favourable assessment – led by AQU Catalunya – in January 2025.
In view of this experience, I would like to highlight the fact that the European Approach, since it promotes integrated initiatives that lead to a dual/multiple degree or a joint degree via a single report, opens up a wide range of extremely attractive opportunities. As it is structured around a single validation process recognised by all of the countries that have signed up to the European Approach and whose assessment is regulated in line with the quality standards (ESG) of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), it simplifies and clarifies the processes that are to be followed and shortens the time frames involved. It also enables the creation of synergies between complementary procedures that form part of potentially concurrent calls (such as the EMDM and EMJM), as well as the requirements of each country and the universities themselves. Additionally, it facilitates the co-creation of a joint working dossier by the participating universities, with regard not only to the dossier’s design but also its coordination, and it even helps to resolve differences between various higher education systems.