European University Alliances and good quality assurance practice

In Europe, the higher education scenario is changing towards the structuring of alliances of institutions, sharing resources, skills and long-term strategies. This vision aims to foster the emergence of supranational universities that promote the ideals and characteristics of the European Union (EU), revolutionize the approach and competitiveness and give students a degree as a result of a combination of studies from different EU countries. Currently, the 41 Alliances of European Universities involve approximately 280 higher education institutions. This contribution aims to identify the best practices in place among the Alliances that specifically involve Italian universities through the research and examination of some pilot projects. The experience of the Alliance partners in cross-border, intra-European and international cooperation has in many cases encouraged a collaborative environment useful for the creation of a supranational university, characterized by joint education and virtual campuses. The real challenges, however, are the construction of effective new governance characterized by existing resources and structures, the legal and financial autonomy of the virtual university, and operational and bureaucratic constraints that will have to be able in a limited time to define the central role of the EU in the near future.