Brussels, 19/09/2005 (Agence Europe) - After a three-year pilot phase, the European Commission and the Australian government have each tripled their commitment to €1 million each as part of an effort to stimulate innovative curriculum development and student exchange projects promoting better understanding and more structured collaboration and exchanges between higher education and vocational training institutions in the European Union and Australia. This initiative is part of the Joint Declaration of 1997. A call for proposals has been launched for projects that will run for 3 years from 2006. This is a concrete follow-up of the EU-Australia cooperation agenda of 2003. It will allow the funding of multilateral, student-centred projects managed by consortia of European and Australian institutions. The programme focuses on undergraduate exchanges and, for the first time, is open to vocational education and training institutions. The initiative also targets various complementary, policy-oriented measures aimed at further supporting EU-Australia cooperation through dialogue, exchange of experiences and best practices in the field of internationalisation of higher education. Of particular interest are the areas of mutual recognition of credits, quality assurance, and exchanges of good practice in innovative pedagogical approaches.
Ján Figel', European Commissioner for Education and Training, said “after three years of pilot projects we are now upgrading our education cooperation with Australia by tripling the funding to support a range of projects that will promote academic excellence and mutual understanding between the people of European Union and Australia, including broader knowledge of their languages, cultures and institutions, in order to meet the challenges of the global, knowledge based society”. Up to 300 EU and Australian students will participate in the new round of projects by spending an academic term in Australia and in Europe respectively. The deadline for the submission of proposals is 30 November 2005. Information: (http: //europa.eu.int/comm/education/programmes/eu_others/australia/call_en.html).