UDC

94(100)+327.7

Authors

Natal’ya V. Leskina
Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin; prosp. Lenina 51, Yekaterinburg, 620000, Russian Federation;
e-mail: nathalieleskina@gmail.com

Abstract

Today, the role of international cooperation programmes within education is increasing, as they are aimed to attract the most talented foreign students and are an instrument of public diplomacy. The external dimension of European higher education includes European Union (EU) programmes of international cooperation within higher education on the national and regional level as well as the intergovernmental Bologna Process, which was aimed to launch the European Higher Education Area by 2010. The majority of Russian studies on EU higher education focus on the internal integration process. This paper traces the dynamics of the external dimension in the political and socioeconomic contexts. The Maastricht Treaty of 1992 established the basis for the EU cooperation within higher education. It stipulated the commitment of the member countries to develop education cooperation with third countries and international organizations. The author of this paper suggests a classification of EU international education programmes. First programmes were part of broader ones, targeted at reforming countries neighbouring with the EU. The activities of such aid programmes as Alfa and Edu-link covered the countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America. Their purpose was to eradicate poverty and provide access to education for disadvantaged groups. The launch of the Bologna Process marked a new stage of this cooperation. New projects supported the creation of common higher education areas in other regions of the world on the basis of the Bologna Process practice. EU tools for cooperation with the rest of the world have thus evolved significantly, contributing to the gradual establishment of the Bologna model as a universal one and the EU as a leader in higher education.

Keywords

European higher education, international education cooperation programmes, European Union, European Higher Education Area, Bologna Process, Bologna model

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