The Education for 21st Century involves the development of key skills for citizens to adapt to the instability, the continuous change and uncertainty characteristic of this Century. In fact, the acquisition of these key skills is assumed to be a route to economic prosperity, reduced income inequalities and social cohesion. Great efforts have been done within the European Union to move towards a competence-based approach, especially in the area of teacher education. Teachers are believed to be a cornerstone for competence-based education models to success. Some teacher competence frameworks to guide initial and developmental teacher education paths have been developed around the world, for instance in the EU, the USA and Asia. However, there is not a global teacher education competence framework. In addition, some countries are currently at the back of the competence-based education approach. This is particularly the case of China where teacher education programmes are divided in specialities and, therefore, teachers lack a cross-sectional perspective. This fact causes diverse education problems, especially at primary level. For this reason, the purpose of this project is to improve Chinese teacher training programmes through a competence-based curriculum. For this purpose, a global teacher competence framework is going to be developed as a baseline to adjust the teaching plans towards a competence-based approach. Besides, teacher trainers will be trained within the competence-based approach so that they can adapt the teaching plans to apply the approach and train other teacher trainers. The development of this project will build capacity in Chinese higher education institutions since they will become qualified within the competence-based approach. Moreover, the project will establish synergies between European and Asia higher education institutions, what will improve the transfer of knowledge and capital.

Institutions in higher education, research and innovation play a central role for the advancement of societies and economies. They foster economic growth, strengthen technological progress and enhance job creation. In addition, higher education institutions contribute to personal development of individuals and help to educate proactive citizens in societies. In order to achieve the best possible results these institutions require modern and effective management.Therefore, the Master in Research and Innovation in Higher Education (MARIHE) focuses on the management of higher education, research and innovation institutions. MARIHE trains students to be change agents that can take the lead in developing these institutions, can critically assess and employ managerial instruments and can turn policy advice into strategic management practice. At the same time they are ready to formulate agendas and policies for the advancement of research, innovation and entrepreneurship. Graduates of MARIHE are equipped to work as managers, development experts, policy makers, analysts, researchers and consultants in HE, research and innovation institutions, as well as for private companies, in public administration, international organisations and NGOs. They also can move on to PHD studies for an academic career.MARIHE is a four semester master programme of 120 ECTS credits. It is jointly offered by six partners from Europe and Asia: Danube University Krems in Austria (coordinator), University of Tampere in Finland, Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences in Germany, Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary, Beijing Normal University in China and Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology (deemed to be University) in India. For offering a truly global perspective the consortium includes as academic associated partners universities from USA, Uganda, Mozambique and Brazil. The consortium further includes a strong network of associated partners that are well-known international and national organisations, research centres or consulting companies involved with higher education, research and innovation sectors. This global network will provide multiple opportunities for students regarding studies, research and employability.MARIHE students spend the 1st semester in Austria and the 2nd semester in Finland. They attend an internship at well-known organisations in higher education, research and innovation, providing them with the opportunity to gain experience in a real work setting. For the two-month study-trip to Asia, students can choose to join the partners in either China or India. For the specialisation part, students return to Europe and choose between the specialisations “Research and Innovation” (Finland), “Leadership and Management” (Germany), “Institutional Research” (Austria) and “Learning and Teaching” (Hungary). Depending on the chosen specialisation, graduates will receive a joint degree or a double degree.More information: www.marihe.eu

Since the establishment of the EU-China Strategic Partnership in 2003, the bilateral relationship between the EU and China has become increasingly comprehensive covering a wide range of economic, political and people-to-people areas of cooperation. EUPLANT focuses on an aspect of the relationship (i.e. the interactions between the Chinese and the European Union (EU) legal and judicial systems) which remains very much understudied even though it has arguably become a prominent area of cooperation in the EU-China Strategic Partnership and given rise to rule of law-based concerns. More particularly, EUPLANT assesses the extent to which legal transplants and enhanced judicial cooperation can lead to an increased regulatory convergence between the Chinese and EU legal frameworks. Against the background of what some regard as a deterioration of rule of law and increased pressures on civil society and the legal profession in China, EUPLANT assesses both the risks and opportunities of judicial and wider legal cooperation. Through a set of research, policy and outreach activities, EUPLANT creates new avenues for enhanced academic and policy cooperation between the EU and China and engenders a better understanding of each other’s legal systems.The project brought together eight partner institutions including Queen Mary University of London (Coordinator), King's College London, the University of Leuven, University of Bologna, Erasmus University Rotterdam, City University of Hong Kong, Beijing Normal University, and Tsinghua University. The project activities have involved research, teaching, as well as outreach. Its implementation has taken place at a very peculiar moment in time. On the one hand, it is undeniable the project has been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. A Jean Monnet Network is primarily about mobility aimed to foster exchanges between partner institutions. With travel restrictions in place (and still in place in China as we speak), most of the network activities have had to be moved online. As we will explain in the following section, this has actually created a number of opportunities that have contributed to enhance the impact of the project. On the other hand, the project has taken place at a time of deterioration of the relationship between the EU and China. This deterioration has been primarily driven by what has been described as a 'revival of authoritarianism' in China. The overall political context in China has been translated into a shrinking space for freedom of speech and academic freedom. The very essence of the network - that is to create bridges between European and Chinese academia to foster mutual understanding of each other's legal system in an increasingly globalised legal landscape - became therefore even more relevant. Finally, the implementation of our project also took place at a time where the bilateral relationship was marked by significant milestones. The conclusion 'in principle' of the CAI in December 2020 did constitute a watershed event for the bilateral economic relationship between the EU and China. Its conclusion in principle and the suspension of the ratification process that followed have very much shaped the academic debates and activities we have organised. Through the different activities (i.e. research, teaching, and outreach), the network has reached out to a diversity of stakeholders and end-users. The activities of the network have involved junior and senior academics, policy-makers, judges, lawyers, representatives from the industry, as well as civil society organisations. The different ways in which our results have been disseminated (i.e. publications, blog posts, lectures, policy report) will ensure the long term impact of the project.

The LEAD2 project is built on the results of the LEAD project, but with significant new & innovative contributions. The rational for setting up the LEAD2 project is two-fold: 1)need for deeper & broader innovative capacity building on university governance and academic leadership among Chinese and European HEIs, 2)the lack of Knowledge Base and Referencing tool for academic leaders. Therefore, the LEAD2 has four main objectives: 1)customise innovative specialized & targeted blended training for academic leaders, 2)deepen the understanding of university governance and academic leadership (AL) in diverse contexts through comparative studies, 3)create an online Knowledge Base and Referencing Tool for academic leaders, 4)establish an EU-China Center on AL. The key results will include 1) customised blended training (MOOCs & F2F workshop series) targeted for young, middle-level and top-level academic leaders; 2)research reports and publications that significantly contribute to the understanding of university governance and AL in China and the EU; 3)created online Knowledge Base and Quick Referencing tool for (potential) academic leaders; 4)a sustainable EU-China Center on AL. The project will have significant impact in further strengthening the EU-China cooperation in university governance, supporting the modernisation and internationalisation of HEIs and fostering innovative capacities of Chinese and European universities. It will also further contribute to the EU-China High Level People-to-People Dialogue (HPPD), especially the EU-China cooperation in higher education. The key stakeholders include university academic leaders at different levels including potential academic leaders, Chinese and European HEIs, and relevant policy makers.The Consortium is a strong and unique partnership with 6 European and 6 Chinese universities, which ensures a complementarity of expertise and also regional relevance of capacity building in different parts of China & the EU.