The Programme

European Union /Australia Cooperation in Higher Education and Vocational Education and Training aims primarily at promoting understanding between the peoples of the European Union and Australia and improving the quality of their human resource development.

Following the EU/Australia Joint Declaration of 1997, EU/Australian relations have developed steadily and continue to grow closer, resulting in the establishment of mutual links across the whole spectrum of relations. The Joint Declaration, which was reviewed in 2003, recognises the importance of promoting better understanding and interaction between the peoples of the Member States of the EU and the people of Australia, including broader knowledge of their languages, cultures and institutions.

The European Union and Australia initiated a pilot phase of projects on cooperation in higher education starting in 2002, and continuing in 2003, 2004 and 2005-06. Projects could pursue the following activities:

Joint Consortia Projects aimed to set up a framework for student mobility and curriculum development at post-secondary school level through the creation of a consortium of either EU and Australian higher education institutions at the undergraduate level, or EU and Australian VET institutions. The consortium would develop a joint study programme and allow their students to spend a period of study abroad.

EU students would travel to Australia and Australian students would travel to the EU. Study abroad periods would have to be fully recognised by the sending institutions in the framework of their university studies.

Projects had to be designed to be sustainable beyond the period of funding support. An important aspect of every project was the information on and assessment of the joint study programme results. Strategies for sustainability of the joint study programme also had to be developed and implemented.

Complementary Activities aimed to further support EU/Australia cooperation in higher education and VET at a policy-oriented level. These activities might include conferences, seminars, support to publications or innovative websites, which focused on a topic related to international cooperation in education which is of relevance and interest to Australian and European higher education institutions and / or VET institutions as well as to overall relations between the EU and Australia. Participation in Complementary Activities was open to Higher Education institutions, VET institutions and other organisations.

For further details on the selected projects, please go to http://ec.europa.eu/education/programmes/eu_others/australia/projects_en.html and for more information http://ec.europa.eu/education/programmes/eu_others/australia/index_en.html