Designing Collaboration: Building Sustainable Communities in University Alliance CHARM-EU

Simone Roth; Nicolas De Keyser; Ines Müller-Vogt; Alexander Arenas Canon

doi:10.21240/zfhe/20-4/09

This paper explores the strategic development and piloting of internal networking formats within CHARM-EU, a transnational European University Alliance. Guided by theories of Communities of Practice, Networked Improvement Communities, meta-organizations, and marketing perspectives on identity and participation, a set of guiding principles was co-created and tested through pilot events. Evaluation data from over 90 participants informed iterative improvements and highlighted success factors and challenges. The study contributes to community-building practice in HEI alliances by proposing adaptive roles and formats for collaboration across institutional and cultural boundaries.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

As universities worldwide face unprecedented challenges and changes – from technological upheavals to shifting societal expectations and the role of internationalisation – it is important to critically evaluate the role, structure and purpose of higher education institutions. This issue of ZFHE presents contributions that address the evolving models of higher education institutions and the various ways in which they are changing and/or adapting to a rapidly changing environment. The concept of universities as social institutions has long been the subject of scholarly inquiry, from the classical theories of Humboldt and Newman, which emphasise the role of the university in promoting intellectual growth, to more modern perspectives that view universities as dynamic actors in global knowledge economies (Gumport, Slaughter, etc.). More recent theoretical frameworks have shifted the focus to the university's ability to adapt and transform in response to external pressures, including global competition and internationalisation, digitalisation, and changes in public policy and funding models. This issue of ZFHE examines these issues from a variety of perspectives.

Authors

Prof. Dr. Simone Roth
Hochschule Ruhr West
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1902-9658
Nicolas De Keyser
Hochschule Ruhr West
https://orcid.org/0009-0005-6145-7332
Ines Müller-Vogt
Hochschule Ruhr West
https://orcid.org/0009-0001-0023-5980
Alexander Arenas Canon
Université de Montpellier
https://orcid.org/0009-0008-9178-6235

How to Cite

Roth, S., De Keyser, N., Müller-Vogt, I., & Arenas Canon, A. (2025). Designing Collaboration: Building Sustainable Communities in University Alliance CHARM-EU. Zeitschrift für Hochschulentwicklung (Journal for Higher Education Development), 20(4), 195–218. https://doi.org/10.21240/zfhe/20-4/09

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