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The mobility of international students is a crucial tool for the European Union's goal of creating a unified European Higher Education Area. Despite the initial assumption that all European universities and students can benefit equally from cross-university study experiences, certain European regions have become disproportionately favored over time. This has resulted in specific geographical patterns, challenging the principles of equality and openness in the EU's higher education policy. To better understand these spatial effects and enhance the EU's mobility policy effectiveness, this research analyzes the network properties of Erasmus+, comparing it with traditional degree-seeking activities. Utilizing a modularity measure with data from the EU and UNESCO, the study reveals significant sub-regional variations in the Erasmus+ geographical network, posing challenges for policy implementation and limiting mobility alternatives.

Although it is a highly developed industrial country and generally known as technologically savvy, Germany lags internationally in digital transformation. Moreover, Germany's progress in Higher Education (HE) is uneven since 16 federal states have responsibility for education, including Higher Education. The pandemic has reinforced the importance as much as accelerated the transition to digitalization in HE. Although HE leaders see digitalization as important for research, service, and management, they emphasize that digital transformation has meaning for teaching and learning. The new digitally-based formats of teaching and learning--for example "blended learning" and so-called "inverted classroom" formats--benefit students most as they motivate and engage them more than does traditional classroom-based education. As Germany is a member of the European Union (EU) and a signatory of the Bologna Process, European policies, programs, guidelines, and agreements also affect Germany's digital transformation.

In this article we offer a conceptual and practical contribution to the field of STEM education by investigating the concepts educators may include in Quantum Technologies (QT) outreach activities. We embed our approach in the discipline-culture (DC) framework, in which we consider the cultural nuances of QT as an important factor which must not be ignored in education efforts. To this end, a survey study by the pilot project Quantum Technologies Education For Everyone (QuTE4E), investigating key concepts for QT outreach, was conducted between December 2021 and June 2022. Here we present the results of the study, analysed through the DC framework, and consider the implications for designing QT outreach activities. The data hints at the perceived value of highlighting core concepts of Quantum Mechanics (QM), while also raising the question of whether QT sits as a discipline of Physics, Computer Science, or elsewhere. This calls for a reordering of the primacy of certain concepts (such as qubit and spin) for outreach purposes, where core concepts in QM might not be core concepts in QT, and vice versa. The results of this study provide valuable insights for those interested in learning more about this rapidly-evolving field.

Artificial intelligence in education (AIEd) is a fast-growing field of research. In previous work, we described efforts to explore the possible futures of AIEd by identifying key variables and their future prospects. This paper re-examines our discussions on the governance of data and the role of students and teachers by considering the implications of (1) a recent case related to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and (2) the release of ChatGPT, a generative AI model capable to producing 'human-like' text. These events raise questions for the future of AIEd and the underlying function of assessment, and highlight the importance of active student participation in the integration of AI in education. [This article has been presented in the 5th International Open & Distance Learning Conference-IODL 2022.]

Even though distance education from the home environment has seemed comfortable and economic for students with disability in formal higher education during the pandemic, insufficiency in their academic self-efficacy, satisfaction and an increasing tendency to drop out were observed. This quantitative research is based on development of the scales and hierarchical regression analyses to determine the resources of academic self-efficacy, satisfaction and the tendency to drop out of students with disability in higher education beyond physical accessibility. The hierarchical effect of sub-dimensions of academic self-efficacy on satisfaction and the tendency to drop out and hierarchical predictor roles of socio-demographic characteristics (gender, rate of personal disability, type of disability, and four fields of study) were analysed. Some of the important findings are; self-efficacy in training, emotional well-being, technique and communication are determined as the sub-dimensions of academic self-efficacy. Self-efficacy in emotional well-being is the most effective sub-dimension of academic self-efficacy on satisfaction. Hierarchically, fields of study (social science and health sciences), rate of disability and types of disability (chronic illness and hearing disability) are effective on academic self-efficacy. The results support the decision makers to increase the quality of more inclusive higher education by considering differences based on education fields, types of disability and rate of (personal) disability and gender.

In today's digitally connected world, privacy has transformed from a fundamental human right into a multifaceted challenge. As technology enables the seamless exchange of information, the need to protect personal data has grown exponentially. Privacy has emerged as a critical concern in the digital age, as technological advancements continue to reshape how personal information is collected, stored, and utilized. This paper delves into the fundamental principles of privacy and explores the potential harm that can arise from the mishandling of personal data. It emphasizes the delicate balance between safeguarding individuals' privacy rights and fostering innovation in a data-driven society. By analyzing key privacy principles and their implications, this paper explores the foundational privacy principles that define the concept of privacy while delving into the potential harms that can arise when these principles are violated.

This study aims to examine the relationship among motivation for joining an educational leadership training programme (MOT), perceived skills (PS), and perceived changes in transformational leadership (PCTFL) in educational leadership training. The study drew on survey data from 761 participants who were associated with a leadership development programme under an EU-China cooperation project. The conceptual model was tested by structural equation modelling (SEM) by the Mplus programme. MOT and PCTFL were measured, respectively, by second-order factor structure assessments due to their multi-dimensional nature. The findings of the study suggest that motivation positively influences perceived changes in transformational leadership, and this relationship is positively mediated by perceived skills as learning gains in educational leadership training. The study provides novel empirical evidence on motivation that leads to transformational leadership changes in leadership training programmes. Policymakers and other key stakeholders can use these findings to gain a deeper understanding of the success of projects and encourage academic members to participate in leadership training programmes to improve transformational leadership.

This paper has its origins in the EU Comenius funded GeoCapabilities project. From its outset, the project developed and researched the notion of powerful disciplinary knowledge (PDK) as an underlying principle of curriculum making in the context of secondary school geography teaching. The work, led from the UCL Institute of Education and involving school teachers, teacher educators and other stakeholders across eight mainly European jurisdictions, was framed by Young and Muller's 'three educational scenarios' (Young & Muller, "European Journal of Education," 45, 2010 and 11). The three futures heuristic is discussed as a means to distinguish qualities of curriculum thought. Future 3 scenarios, which posit teachers as curriculum makers with responsibility to engage in essential 'knowledge work', provide a principled platform on which to develop ambitious educational classroom encounters. Knowledge working with PDK and (as we go on to argue) other powerful ways of knowing the world, is seen as a bridge between social realist epistemological principles and practical classroom content selections. This opens the possibility of responding to Deng's ("Journal of Curriculum Studies," 54, 2022) call for developing practical theories of content with teachers. Although the authors are geographers in education drawing on different international perspectives and traditions, the paper addresses matters of interest applicable to a variety of specialist subject domains across the secondary school curriculum.

Recital 33 GDPR has often been interpreted as referring to 'broad consent'. This version of informed consent was intended to allow data subjects to provide their consent for certain areas of research, or parts of research projects, conditional to the research being in line with 'recognised ethical standards'. In this article, we argue that broad consent is applicable in the emerging field of Computational Social Science (CSS), which lies at the intersection of data science and social science. However, the lack of recognised ethical standards specific to CSS poses a practical barrier to the use of broad consent in this field and other fields that lack recognised ethical standards. Upon examining existing research ethics standards in social science and data science, we argue that they are insufficient for CSS. We further contend that the fragmentation of European Union (EU) law and research ethics sources makes it challenging to establish universally recognised ethical standards for scientific research. As a result, CSS researchers and other researchers in emerging fields that lack recognised ethical standards are left without sufficient guidance on the use of broad consent as provided for in the GDPR. We conclude that responsible EU bodies should provide additional guidance to facilitate the use of broad consent in CSS research.

Since the 2004 accession to the European Union (EU), Poland, like many other post-communist countries, have gone through a significant process of convergence to the EU institutions, laws and processes. In this process, the European values, policies and institutions have become an important reference point for the legitimacy of major national system reforms. In education, there have been a significant number of reforms aligned with 'European standards' as integration with the EU was seen as a priority for Poland's national interest. This paper is interested in the changing policy discourses that have been defining and legitimising Poland's education policy objectives, with a particular attention given to the idea of 'quality education' and the role of education. In this way, it is also interested in the processes of Europeanisation and de-Europeanisation -- turning away from 'EU-isation' of policies. The emerging picture from the analysis illustrates the tensions between the neoliberal and populist policy discourses pursued by a variety of Polish governments, including significant policy shifts under the government of the "Prawo i Sprawiedliwosc" (PiS) (Law and Justice) coalition.

European education and training policies have gained momentum with the debt crisis and soaring youth unemployment. In 2013, the 'European Alliance for Apprenticeships' was launched. In Germany, a role model for apprenticeship training in Europe, a national 'Alliance for Initial and Further Training' was signed just one year later. Both Alliances represent a new, experimentalist governance mode, in which a novel steering entity orchestrates stakeholder cooperation. What explains the parallel evolvement of alliances for apprenticeships in Germany and at the EU level? Studying developments around the Alliances in the last two decades, we trace and critically discuss four theorised drivers: (1) German-driven VET governance reforms with a strong influence of German best practices, (2) EU-driven cooperation that influences German VET policies, (3) cross-fertilising reforms and (4) externally driven, parallel reforms in response to governance mega-challenges. Our analysis supports a prevalence of the fourth driver: increasingly complex policy problems push both the EU and Germany to implement policy innovations such as the Alliances for apprenticeship training. In an experimentalist setting that often entails a governance by (seemingly neutral) numbers, benchmarking and learning, this also gives leeway to Germany to present itself as a pioneer of the EU's focus on dual training.

Drawing upon contemporary research, this paper examines whether there is a relationship of STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) bachelor and master graduates to the gender pay gap (GPG) in the 27 EU Member states in 2013-2020 using a novel cross-sectional data set based on the 2013 International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED). International panel data were analysed with the dynamic modelling fixed effects method and compared with the results received from the cross-sectional analysis executed with the help of Bayesian model averaging methods. Our findings suggest that STEM education plays a significant role in forming the GPG. We can see a negative, robust and statistically significant effect of bachelor- and master-level female STEM graduates on the GPG and a positive statistically significant effect of bachelor- and master-level male STEM graduates on the GPG. The permanently lower women-to-men ratio in STEM education and those employed in high-end sectors of science and technology can be one of the drivers of the persistent GPG in developed countries.

We employ a policy assemblage, mobilities, and mutations framework to analyze the geographies that constitute and reflect educational policy circulation at the regional or supranational level in trans-regional regimes and/or quasi-federal polities such as the European Union (EU) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Recognizing that policies are mobile in a fragmentary fashion as they are re/dis/assembled in specific ways, places, and purposes, we move beyond methodological nationalism and pay attention to the make-up of policies as they are in motion and the places they affect. In other words, using the trans-regional and/or quasifederal level, we juxtapose the tensions between policy as fixed, territorial, or place-specific against the dynamic, regional, and relational policy elements. Methodologically, we use a comparative federalist lens to trace and examine the distillation, translation, and mobilization of education policy across and between quasi-federal polities. In this sense, epistemologically, we further explicate the manner in which such policy instruments move across the various interconnected units and sites composing these federal-type entities, while (re)territorializing and deterritorializing what we construe as complex educational assemblages. We show that contra to the extant literature, in Europe/EU and the Caribbean/CARICOM, movement, and mobility involves the connectivity between policymaking sites, and policies arrive at their destination in the same form as they appeared elsewhere, allowing for forms of discursive isomorphism.

The "Memorandum on Lifelong Learning" was launched in October 2000 by the European Commission and has been debated ever since in all member states of the European Union, leading to the publication of a follow-up document in 2001 which promoted a "European area of lifelong learning". The "Memorandum" was a unique document in terms of both form and content, and its outcome and immediate impact were remarkable. But what is the long-term effect of this document, considering policymaking processes and scholarly debates in various EU member states and beyond? The authors of this article aim to answer this question by highlighting the "Memorandum's" "key messages" and analysing how it is referenced in academic papers and publications. Their main findings confirm the "Memorandum's" significant impact, including a long-term one, particularly in raising awareness of the importance of adult education in the political debate. Despite a decrease in explicit references to the document in policy papers over the past ten years, other more recent references to the "Memorandum" can still be identified in the latest policy documents and academic debates. Scholarly papers are particularly interested in critical content analysis, pointing out the strengths and limitations of the "Memorandum" and its follow-up document. During the past decade, the academic debate has become more active than in the first ten years since the "Memorandum's" publication, demonstrating its long-term impact on various sectors in the field of lifelong learning, even outside Europe.

The purpose of this study is to compare education and inspection systems and to reveal their similarities and differences in terms of structuring and functioning. Thus, it is aimed to make suggestions about education supervision in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus by determining its current state. In the study, the educational supervision systems of England, Germany, Finland, Spain, and France all member states of the European Union, which adopt the participatory management approach, were analysed and compared taking into account the availability of sufficient data. As a result of the research based on the document analysis technique, it is seen that France and Northern Cyprus have a more centralized control structure compared to other countries, whereas the schools in Germany, Finland and Spain are more autonomous. In England, schools are authorised to act more freely by choosing to obtain professional help from outside under the supervision of schools. In order to increase the quality of education in Northern Cyprus, it would be useful to carry out regular inspections, to include teachers in this process, and to establish a guidance approach. [Note: The publication year (2022) shown on the PDF is incorrect. The correct publication year for this article is 2023.]

This article approaches secondary Vocational Education & Training (VET) in Portugal from a historical-educational perspective, namely the professional courses introduced in 2004 in public secondary schools. Its implementation aimed to obtain a qualified technical workforce and to fight against the high failure rate and school dropouts registered in technological courses. It was also proposed, to complete 12-year compulsory education, qualifying students for the exercise of a profession as level IV technicians of the national qualifications framework (NQF). As a result, the number of students enrolled in this modality has progressed from a residual value of 10% in 2004 to 39.7% in 2018. On average, its attendance in the European Union (EU) was 54.6%, with special emphasis on Finland and the Czech Republic, whose indicators were, 71.6% and 71.3%. With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic came the unplanned closure of schools in the spring of 2020, imposed to protect the well-being of society, but which caused discontinuities. This research concludes by taking into account professional education in Portugal and the EU in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, also considering the opinion of educational actors (course directors, teachers, and students) on the functioning of VET in Portugal.

The paper investigates the increasing number of international co-authored publications, comparing countries that accessed the European Union (EU) in 2004 (EU04) against other Central-Eastern European Countries (othEast-ERA), adopting a scientometric approach. This comparison looks at whether to be part of the EU is different from being part of the European Research Area (ERA) -- given that both entities aim at fostering more international collaborations. The hypothesis is that EU might convey more opportunities for the sake of international publications, although ERA assures access to European funding schemes anyway. Analysing the census of internationally co-authored publications from 1995 to 2015, difference-indifferences regressions show that Countries that joined EU in 2004 performed better than other Central-Eastern ones. Implications for the public policies in science are discussed.

In the 21st century there is a lot of attention on sustainability (whether social or environmental). However, unfortunately, the economic perspective has been largely neglected in the field of education. This article deals with a quantitative assessment of the efficiency of tertiary education in individual EU countries, which allows to include the economic aspect of the evaluation. Furthermore, we are expanding the commonly established evaluation system based on the number of graduates to include another area, namely the graduate's employability on the labor market. We believe that for a correct evaluation of individual education systems it is necessary to include the relevance and quality of acquired knowledge and skills. Although the efficiency assessment is carried out for the whole EU, the results are presented according to identified groups of countries that have similar education systems. Countries such as Ireland and France emerge as top performers because of their ability to produce large numbers of graduates given their resources. Malta and Luxembourg have also performed very well in the efficiency assessment, although they produce far fewer graduates in terms of resources, but thanks to the system set up, graduates in these countries are highly employable in the labor market.

It is observed that efforts are made to benefit from the perspective of the Universal Convention on the Rights of the Child and to undertake the protection and promotion of children's rights more effectively in countries that are members of the European Union/membership process with the European Union Agreement (Lisbon Treaty) which came into force in 2009. In this direction, the European Union Guidelines on the Promotion and Protection of Children's Rights were published to guide the EU member countries and their countries in the process of membership in their work on children's rights. So, the research purposed primarily to examine the status of children's rights in the official "Sachunterricht" course curriculum used in the German education system in line with the EU Guidelines. In the research, a holistic multiple-state pattern was adopted from the qualitative research approach patterns. In the process of obtaining research data, the document review method was used. The official "Sachunterricht" course curriculum in sixteen states in the Federal Republic of Germany was examined in this scope. As a consequence of the research, it was concluded that the content included in the curriculum in most states is in line with the EU Guidelines. However, we saw just a few curricula have that there are statements of attainment and study examples regarding children's right to protection and participation. At this point, studies can be put forward to make all education curricula more compatible with EU Guiding Principles. These studies should ensure that the teaching curricula that countries will use address children's rights and related learning outcomes and teaching activities aimed at recognizing children's rights, preventing discrimination against them, building a culture of universal peace, and preparing children for responsible lives in a free society.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of the change in the vision of vocational education within the scope of the "Modernization of Vocational and Technical Education Project" (MTEM) and "Strengthening the Vocational Education and Training System" (MEGEP) financed by the EU, which was concluded by the Ministry of National Education. Vocational education is a type of education that increases the employability of students by providing vocational skills and is very important in the economic development of countries. Vocational education has gained even more importance in recent years due to the increasing need for human resources. This increasing importance obliges to take some decisions about education locally and to transfer some responsibilities to local administrations as a means of development and development. In addition to this, it is necessary to set standards for each occupational group for an advanced vocational education and citizens to take responsibility for a qualified vocational education. In the relevant literature review, it was seen that there are limited studies that evaluate the policies and practices vocational education that Turkey has been involved in and implemented in the European Union harmonization process in a holistic manner. In this study, which was conducted based on qualitative research method, a holistic single case design was used and the data was analyzed by document analysis method. A total of seven documents were reviewed within the scope of the study. This study evaluates the studies on the development and standardization of the vocational education system through the projects made on this subject and sheds light on the development of the last twenty years.

This article maps the differences between the European Union's Framework of Human Rights and state-based legal mindsets (ideologies) of language policy and planning in education. Based on the analysis of the documents released by the European Commission, the Council of Ministers and the European Council in the course of the constituting of multilingual perspective and taking the experience of its local implementation into account, this article examines common cross-state indicators in order to compare multilingual responsibility of public education policies for refugee-background students (RBSs). It concludes that the assessment of multilingual possibilities in education was not complete and impartial on the level of the European Union and for a selected jurisdiction -- namely, Poland. Current regional legal regulations fail to equitably address the needs of RBSs, and national-based attention eliminated the question of newcomers' rights in education. Moreover, as highlighted for current policy-making in the European Union, there is a gap between current legal intention and political views produced by EU institutions -- for example, The Commission Action Plan on the Integration of Third-Country Nationals.

The present study contributes to recent renewed interest in the social construction of folk linguistic knowledge and directs its focus to a multilingual workplace. The article reports on an in-depth sociolinguistic investigation in a European institution in Luxembourg. Data were collected in 2020-2021 with trainees and permanent staff in a terminology and communication unit. The data collection triangulated qualitative techniques of longitudinal interviewing, reflective drawing, writing reflection and observation. Analysis of participants' stances uncovered a varying understanding of what multilingualism means in the workplace, how it changes and to what effect. During reflective participation, the trainees heightened their sociopragmatic awareness of diversity in the meaning-making process. Moreover, they ceased to construct their personal multilingualism as proof of professional competence and started to see it as the basis of their own well-being, personal self-realisation and growth. As such, they re-coupled the social and linguistic aspect of their language use and aligned their stances with the permanent staff. This study aims to inspire more innovative approaches with a potential direct effect in multilingual workplaces, especially in those welcoming workers from monolingual or otherwise homogeneous social environments.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse data literacy in the new Digital Competence Framework for Citizens (DigComp 2.2). Mid-2022 the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission published a new version of the DigComp (EC, 2022). This new version focusses more on the datafication of society and emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence. This paper analyses how DigComp 2.2 defines data literacy and how the framework looks at this from a societal lens. Design/methodology/approach: This study critically examines DigComp 2.2, using the data literacy competence model developed by the Knowledge Centre for Digital and Media Literacy Flanders-Belgium. The examples of knowledge, skills and attitudes focussing on data literacy (n = 84) are coded and mapped onto the data literacy competence model, which differentiates between using data and understanding data. Findings: Data literacy is well-covered in the framework, but there is a stronger emphasis on understanding data rather than using data, for example, collecting data is only coded once. Thematically, DigComp 2.2 primarily focusses on security and privacy (31 codes), with less attention given to the societal impact of data, such as environmental impact or data fairness. Originality/value: Given the datafication of society, data literacy has become increasingly important. DigComp is widely used across different disciplines and now integrates data literacy as a required competence for citizens. It is, thus, relevant to analyse its views on data literacy and emerging technologies, as it will have a strong impact on education in Europe.

This article reports from a study of what messages concerning "industry--society--environment" are communicated to secondary students when they participate in webinars with representatives from the petrochemical industry. The webinars are conceptualised as part of an arena for governing science education and the messages as companion meanings. Empirically, the study is set in a context of online webinars on the topic of careers in the petrochemical industry. The webinars target students across the European Union (EU). The analysis reveals two main themes of companion meanings concerning what relations between industry--society--environment are communicated: a) the petrochemical industry as safeguarding modern life, and b) the petrochemical industry as essential for the solving of environmental problems. The companion meanings conveyed are not at all neutral but instead a means to influence the attitudes and choices of young people. The themes are discussed in relation to the overall democracy and citizenship aims of education. That the webinars claim to address the topic of careers and that they are part of an initiative sanctioned by a governmental authority (the EU) might contribute to teachers and students lowering their guard in relation to potentially biased messages.

Segregated schools have not been sufficiently explored and reflected upon. The appearance and facilities of these schools have not yet been mapped in detail, nor how they operate day by day. This article attempts to help fill this knowledge gap through the example of a segregated school in eastern Slovakia attended exclusively by Roma pupils. The research concerns to a 13-year-old Roma boy who attends first grade with 7-year-old classmates and who had moved with his family from England to Slovakia. The article is based on qualitative research and the ethnographic observation method, supplemented by interviews with teachers and fieldworkers from an NGO. The research results show how this segregated school had a negative effect on the future of the children who were attending. The poor condition and lack of material equipment have a very significant impact on the quality of teaching and learning.

This paper presents a descriptive analysis of the impact of tuition fee increases in England on the full-degree mobility of undergraduate students from the European Union. First, we investigated whether the increase in tuition fees reduced the number of EU students in English higher education institutions. Our analysis shows that, on average, English universities suffered a sudden drop in EU enrolments in 2012/13 but recovered and then expanded their pre-2012 enrolment levels in subsequent academic years. We observe that those English universities regarded as less prestigious experienced the sharpest decline and took longer to recover their pre-2012 numbers. Second, we examined how changes in enrolment are associated with EU countries' macro-level characteristics, using the push-pull model framework. While there was a significant decrease in the number of students from Northern and Western European countries attending English universities after 2012, the tuition fee increase did not impact the number of students coming from Southern Europe. We found an association between EU countries' youth employment rates and higher education system characteristics with changes in enrolment in English universities. By examining the effect of changes in the tuition fee policy on international student mobility, our research provides new evidence on how tuition fee policies might change the behaviour of students.

This paper focuses on the tension between two political rationalities coordinating Danish higher education (HE) -- a nativist politics of belonging and that of status competition and its technologies of university rankings, citation indexes, and performance management, explored historically drawing on Gramscian conjunctural analysis. The paper argues that Danish academics were invited into a performative culture of world-class research, university rankings and citation indexes, and the dominance of English as the valued scientific language. Simultaneously a political consensus has developed around restricting international student access to Danish HE and reducing English-medium education in a context of hostility towards migrants generally. Consequently, Danish HE has been constituted as a nationalist public good with neoliberal characteristics.

The COVID-19 pandemic positioned digital education in a new light. The need for educational institutions to develop strategies, standards and establish quality assurance across digital education became even more evident. This paper describes the four-step process of designing an interactive "European Union (EU) Digital Education Quality Standard Framework and Companion Evaluation Toolkit" to guide the design, delivery and evaluation of effective digital education. (1) A review of literature of existing digital education frameworks and models is presented. (2) Variables and sub-variables inherent in designing, delivering and evaluating effective digital education are identified. (3) Next the variables and sub-variables in the framework are defined. (4) The process of designing the interactive framework diagram is described with the companion evaluation toolkit outlined. The proposed framework is flexible and applicable to entities and audiences regardless of where they are in the online learning adoption process.

Digital competence (DC) is a broad set of skills, attitudes, and knowledge for confident, critical, and responsible use of digital technologies in every aspect of life. DC proves essential in the contemporary digital landscape, yet its diffusion is hindered by biases, misunderstandings, and limited awareness. Teaching Informatics in the educational curriculum is increasingly supported by the institutions but faces serious challenges, such as teacher upskilling and support. In response, grassroots movements promoting computing literacy in an informal setting have grown, including EU Code Week, whose vision is to develop computing skills while promoting diversity and raising awareness of the importance of digital skills. This study extensively analyses EU Code Week editions spanning 2014 to 2021 across European Union member states, pursuing three primary objectives: firstly, to evaluate teacher engagement in the campaign in terms of penetration, retention, and spatial distribution; secondly, to characterise the multifaceted audience and themes embraced by these initiatives; and, lastly, to investigate the influence of socio-economic factors on engagement. The investigation uncovers the underlying mechanisms fostering Code Week's engagement, providing insights to campaign organisers for strategic planning and resource allocation in future editions. Moreover, the analysis reveals that the most engaged areas are characterised by lower income as well as lower digital literacy, restricted access to technology, and a less established computer education, suggesting that Code Week thrives precisely where its impact is most needed.

The authors present a scientometric procedure comparing engineering education (EE) publication output in different countries. Selected European countries were compared using a snapshot of authors published in EE journals during a two-year period - 895 in all. The entire publication careers of these authors - 39,322 publications - were analysed to determine the breakdown of educational and non-educational publications. Spain and the UK produced the most publications, and we propose explanations based on relevant national policies. France, Germany, and Italy had notably fewer EE publications relative to their general engineering and science research outputs, whereas Portugal, Ireland, and three Nordic countries were the opposite. Countries varied widely in the ratio of educational to non-educational publications. Non-educational publications typically had a greater impact on authors' h-index values. We believe this procedure can longitudinally map and compare EE publication output in and across Europe, providing a valuable resource for policy-makers and researchers in the region.

Concerned with European Union (EU) governance of teachers since the mid-2000s, this paper makes an empirical as well as theoretical contribution to education policy studies in the context of EU governance. Drawing on neo-institutional field theory and an empirical material of policy documents and interviews, the paper analyses the consolidation and evolution of a field at the EU level that is focused on the governance of the teaching profession. We argue that this field constitutes a bridging issue field, spanning several policy domains, including education, employment and economy, and characterised by non-linear and relatively slow change. We demonstrate how the field since the mid-2000s has become elaborated via the strategic framing of teacher skills and careers as policy issues, the mobilisation of actors and networks, and an expanding institutional infrastructure of mechanisms and policy instruments. Theoretically, the paper advances the debate on EU governance by highlighting the epistemic gains of neo-institutional field theory in making sense of soft governance contexts and their trajectories as an outcome of the interplay between issue framings, different types of actors, and institutional infrastructure.

This paper discusses the workings of the European Semester (ES) in relation to the policy field of education. My study shows how the ES enables the steering of education policy through encouraging specific economic and employment-related actions by European Union (EU) member states. With a focus on the relationship between the EU institutions and member states, this paper examines how the ES discursively promotes certain approaches to education through country-specific recommendations (CSRs). In this study, CSRs are revealed as policy spaces where European and national interests are brought together, enabling shared problem definition and collective learning. The paper illustrates how policy moves through translation and negotiation in the construction of CSR. The evidence drawn on here comes from analysis of CSRs in 2011-2016 and 15 semi-structured interviews with key policy actors, mainly from the European Commission, Council and Parliament. This paper concludes that CSRs work through soft power to manage governing tensions through translation and by building convergence and consensus. The analysis is framed theoretically by research on governing and knowledge and draws on a social constructivist perspective on policy work.

Several authors have underlined that processes of Europeanisation of education emerge despite the European Union's lack of formal power in this area. This article argues on the contrary that its lack of power precisely enables the EU to open up a range of possibilities for its involvement in this sector, among which the ET2020 Working Groups (WG) of the Open Method of Coordination (OMC). Based on observations of WG meetings and interviews with key actors, and using Niklas Luhmann's systems-theory, we aim to show how the distance separating the ET2020 WG from the formal circuits of European decision-making acts as a resource for the development of a European discourse on education. Alongside the ordinary legislative procedure based on voting and implementing collectively binding decisions, the alternative political circuit of the OMC is based on the irritation of a set of education sector stakeholders through the creation and dissemination of reports of 'good practices'. In doing so, the ET2020 Working Groups illustrate how politics transforms itself and redefines its boundaries when it is structured at the European level rather than at the level of the nation-state.

Following the severe impact of capitalist industrialization on the environment, the EU has funded several projects in the context of the European Green Deal to pursue climate neutrality by 2050. Some of these projects attempt to achieve zero emissions through political participation, while others by committing EU citizens to adopt sustainable habits in terms of both practical behavior and economic choices. The GreenSCENT project, funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, aims to develop a Competence Framework compliant with the European Qualifications Framework and the European Green Deal. The present article documents the process of developing such a Competence Framework. Eight distinct research teams independently conducted a similar thorough literature review over an assigned topic (Climate Change; Clean Energy; Circular Economy; Green Building; Smart Mobility; From Farm to Fork; Biodiversity; Zero Pollution). The resulting documental corpora have then elicited to build the competence matrices and the corresponding European Qualification Framework levels. Once the information has been reorganized as a knowledge graph, the researchers discovered a large amount of novel interdomain connections, providing a more engaging way of interacting with the Competence Framework, and potentially apt to avoiding information overload issues while preserving the complexity, in line with the simplexity paradigm. The environmental education tools produced by this research could be useful in mitigating the repercussions of Capitalocene on the environment toward the adoption of more sustainable behaviors.

The graphic novel "Alpha: Abidjan to Paris" follows the fictional character Alpha from Côte d'Ivoire to Paris, France, detailing his struggles as a displaced person without legal status as well as the various barriers he encounters on his journey to finding safety. The story of Alpha demonstrates a multifaceted, intersectional, and complex experience illustrating the social, political, and economic "crisis" of displacement. The graphic novel also critiques the ways by which displaced persons experience the violence produced by the international refugee regime, especially among West Africa, North Africa, and the European Union. The idea of "crisis" is expressed in the graphic novel in multiple ways. The language and images used accurately portray the tragedy that so many displaced persons have to experience. By highlighting the reasons that people leave hopeless conditions in search of a more secure life, the novel redefines crisis not as an individual experience, but rather the result of harmful decisions produced at the state and global level. The graphic novel demonstrates how powerful institutions can open up their borders to particular types of migration while simultaneously closing it off to other groups, depending on their intersecting identities (including their national origin, race, age, sex, and socioeconomic status).

Recent scholarly work on higher education institutions (HEIs) within an EU context has focused on how universities and their core activities have been affected by EU education policy. The organisation of HEIs in order to shape European decision-making on higher education, mainly through their presence in Brussels, has received much less attention. This article therefore focuses on how HEIs organise their EU representation and explains their choice for a specific "organisational form," distinguishing between individual (i.e. a Brussels office), collective (i.e. via an association) and mixed representation (the combination of both a Brussels office and membership of an association). After systematically mapping the organisational form of 250 HEIs, we apply a mixed methods design to test our hypotheses derived from previous research on interest representation and lobbying. Our findings illustrate that the distance from Brussels is a key factor in the decision to open a Brussels office or join an association, whereas financial resources appear imperative for combining both forms of representation. Furthermore, we identify additional underlying motives for choosing a particular mode of representation, in particular the importance of information exchange, visibility and networking.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to understand the needs of European users for successful development and uptake of a digital land-based knowledge platform. Methodology: The "discover and define" phases of the design thinking double diamond framework were applied to inform the construction of 16 user-personas and journeys. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from users across Europe using a multi-step approach and thematically analysed. Findings: User-personas and associated user journeys present useful methods for understanding the requirements of key stakeholders in the land-based sectors to aid the development of a digital knowledge reservoir, tailored to their needs. Problem urgency plays a key role in stakeholder touchpoint decisions, with acute problems approached by direct calls or interactions with important advisors. Digital platforms are more likely to be used for chronic problems or general knowledge exchange and upskilling. The touchpoints, challenges and emotions of users are not significantly linked to geographical location but are more likely to be influenced by age, gender and existing digital knowledge. Practical implications: Design thinking can be used to understand the needs of stakeholders in the land-based sectors for the development of tools, products and services as well as understanding specific knowledge requirements. Theoretical implications: This study provides a theoretical framework for understanding the digital knowledge needs of different land-based users. Originality: The development of user-personas and journeys is limited in the land-based sectors, and this research provides a framework for use.