Internationalisation and the role of national agencies

National organisations and agencies are key actors for internationalisation at home (IaH). This article highlights the commitment of Movetia and Nuffic, the Dutch organisation for internationalisation in education, as well as current challenges and opportunities.

The article «Championing IaH: the role of national organizations and agencies» was published on the EAIE website. It was written transnationally by the team of authors Anouk Vermeulen (Nuffic, The Netherlands), Lucie Weissova (Halmstad University, Sweden) and Maria Stergiou (Movetia) and builds on their conference session «Supporting institutions on their Internationaliation at home route: The potential of national agencies», which they presented at the EAIE 2024 in Toulouse.

Championing IaH: the role of national organisations and agencies

«National organisations and agencies dedicated to supporting higher education internationalisation play a pivotal role in its enhancement. They tackle a spectrum of tasks essential to internationalisation. They handle various responsibilities varying per organisation, related to incoming and outgoing mobility, policy advice and research about internationalisation. Yet their role in Internationalisation at Home (IaH) has not been fully explored.  

National organisations and agencies are an untapped resource for supporting higher education institutions (HEIs) in advancing their understanding and implementation of IaH. They are in a unique position to provide the know-how for HEIs and offer a platform for HE professionals to exchange and share knowledge with their peers.   

This is particularly vital as more HEIs turn to IaH, driven by its growing recognition of offering opportunities to all students to gain international and intercultural competencies within their academic disciplines. However, it also reflects today’s challenging higher education landscape, where resistance to internationalisation is surfacing more often than we might have hoped. IaH is not only here to stay but continues to grow in importance. 

This blog draws on a conversation at the 2024 Annual EAIE Conference in Toulouse with professionals from Nuffic (the Dutch organisation for internationalisation in education) and Movetia (the Swiss national agency for promoting exchanges and mobility). The conversation explored the pivotal role of national organisations and agencies in advancing IaH.»

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