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The city as a focus for university internationalisation: four European examples

Internationalisation is a cross-cutting theme in the strategic plans of many universities, and an increased international profile is a core goal for many cities. At the same time, even the leaders of some of Europe’s most avowedly outward-facing, ‘global’ universities have begun to prioritise relations with their city counterparts in recent years. It makes sense, then, that urban universities are working with city administrations to align their international activity – but what form does this take, and does joint activity represent collaboration on areas of mutual convenience, or a broader understanding of internationalisation, place and university-city relationships? This forum presents findings on how urban universities are increasingly framing their internationalisation activity through the lens of their city, based on interviews with 18 university officials and 7 city officials in Amsterdam (the Netherlands), Dublin (Ireland), Glasgow (Scotland) and Hannover (Germany). Two parallel narratives help explain this shift: (1) a renewed acceptance of the importance of the local environment for university success in attracting staff and students and (2) the growing influence of cities as international actors. These findings are drawn from a study examining the wider internationalisation activity of universities and cities commissioned by the British Council, the UK’s organisation for international cultural and educational opportunities, which has announced a strategic focus on cities and their interplay with their cultural and educational institutions.1 Different cities and universities will necessarily have different understandings of internationalisation. A place-based definition was adopted for this research: of engaging with the world, and incorporating it locally. This may cover activities such as branding and place marketing, research, network building, the internationalisation of curricula, mobility and exchange partnerships and branch campuses. Internationalisation also covers the ‘outputs’ of these activities: migration of workers or staff and international students, inward investment, business winning, exports and tourism, for example.