Analyzing the transformation of the European Educational Area. Methodological reflections on the “European University Initiative”

Abstract

This contribution offers a reflection on Network Ethnography as a relevant method to analyse the development of alliances between European universities, expressed by the “European University Initiative”. This project, launched in 2019, promotes new levels of governance, curricula organization and interdisciplinary research (Council of the European Union, 2019).

Network Ethnography (Ball, Junemann, 2012; Player-Koro, 2019) can document both the dynamism of Alliance construction and its innovative forms of organization.

The methodological discussion relies on a specific case study, related to a transnational community of practice oriented to the constitution of a Lifelong Learning Centre within an Alliance, as well as its connections with other elements in the educational field. The methodological discussion may be suitable for the study of contemporary models of governance of Higher Education in Europe.