The current world of higher education (HE) has been shaped by two forces: the humanistic traditions of university governance and the neo-liberal reforms of the past thirty years. With its successes and discontents, this hybrid system faces major crises that affect its ability to respond to the needs of society: the tension between traditional and neo-liberal academic values; the biased evaluation and assessment of quality in higher education; the ineffectiveness determined by the distorted measurements of scientific achievements and other factors; the recent digital transformations of the universities facing the pandemic. To face these challenges, HESPRI addresses innovative strategies to strengthen public policies and improve the competitiveness of the HE sector. Specific objectives and originalities, and a well-designed R&I work plan (4 scientific WPs and 2 support WPs) are proposed for achieving this main goal: comparing a range of national HE systems worldwide as a function of cultural practices, for revealing tensions between various categories of values, shaped by global tendencies; exploring, defining and comparing quality in HE in different contexts, in order to provide innovative and advanced methodology; bringing the collective voice of science into the policymaking process in HE, by looking at how disciplinary and national differences affect governance; analysing technology-enhanced higher education environments, beyond the state of the art, around three pillars - digitalisation, metaverse and open science, on specific emerging research topics. Relying on a world-class and culturally diverse consortium, HESPRI aims to provide evidence-based recommendations for governments, policymakers and universities, to adjust various components in trend with recent provocations. The project proposal incorporates global digitalisation trends, and is tightly connected with world-wide and European strategies and programmes, such as the UN global policies of SDGs.

Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine has ended the post-Cold War European security order, creating new realities in countries neighbouring the EU and shattering illusions in several member states about the Kremlin’s true intentions in wider Europe. By granting candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova and a European perspective to Georgia, the EU has rejected a Russian sphere of influence and instead determined where its future borders should lie. But this decision has not yet led to policies tailored to effectively respond to a geopolitical context which also sees China and other state actors competing for influence. The Eastern Partnership still needs to be fitted with security and connectivity components. In the accession process, existing formats had already reached their limits with, inter alia, the obstructionism by certain member states that is linked to the divisive issue of EU internal reform. This has cost the EU a lot of credibility in the Western Balkans and will take years to resolve. REUNIR, a project with 12 partners from across Europe, examines how the EU can strengthen its foreign and security toolboxes to bolster the resilience and transformation of (potential) candidate countries in a new age of international relations. REUNIR’s foresight approach takes the fundamental uncertainty and openness of alternative futures seriously. Adding the effects of ‘protean power’ unleashed in unforeseen circumstances to a multi-disciplinary approach to the research of the EU’s ‘control power’ in relations with strategic rivals, REUNIR empirically assesses foreign threats to the military, socio-economic and democratic resilience of 9 neighbouring countries, determines capability shortfalls, maps local perceptions of the EU’s support and political perspectives inside the EU on neighbourhood relations. Outlining scenarios up to 2035, REUNIR offers evidence-based policy recommendations to mitigate malign foreign interference and strengthen the EU’s external action.