The European Higher Education Sector Observatory (EHESO) is continuing its engagement with European Universities alliances as part of its broader work to support the monitoring of the European Universities initiative. Through a series of recent exchanges, the EHESO team has been listening to alliances, researchers, the European Commission, EACEA and FOREU4ALL to better understand current data needs, avoid duplication and identify where EHESO can add value.

On 14 April 2026, three members of the EHESO team, Flávia Colus, Frans Kaiser and Gero Federkeil, attended the European Universities Coordinators Working Retreat in Brussels. The event provided an opportunity to hear directly from alliance coordinators about their needs and expectations regarding monitoring, indicators and data use. These insights are helping EHESO shape its contribution in a way that is useful for alliances and aligned with wider policy discussions.

This dialogue continued on 8 May 2026, when EHESO held a consultation meeting with FOREU4ALL representatives. The meeting focused on how EHESO's data infrastructure, institutional and student surveys, interactive tools and analytical work could support alliance monitoring. Participants discussed the importance of identifying synergies, reusing existing data where possible, avoiding additional reporting burden and working towards shared definitions, including on issues such as mobility, joint education and impact. The meeting also explored how EHESO could contribute to the broader monitoring framework for the European Universities initiative and how cooperation with relevant FOREU4ALL topical groups could continue.

EHESO's engagement with the alliance community was also reflected at the European Universities Initiative: 2nd Research and Practice Symposium, held on 2 to 3 July 2026 at WU Vienna. Flávia Colus and Benedetto Lepori contributed to the plenary panel "Defining and assessing the impact of European University Alliances: different perspectives". Their presentation discussed how EHESO can support the monitoring of alliances through existing and future data, tools and analytical outputs.

Across these activities, EHESO's contribution is taking shape around a clear added value: helping make existing and future data on European Universities alliances more visible, comparable and useful. Building on its data centre, institutional and student surveys, complemented by interactive tools and analytical work, EHESO can support alliance monitoring by bringing together evidence from different sources, linking information through common identifiers, and helping stakeholders work towards shared definitions and interoperable data. This can strengthen understanding of alliance development over time, support alliance-level reflection and planning, and provide evidence for policy discussions on the future of the European Universities initiative.

The next milestone in this dialogue will be the third EHESO online policy workshop, "Monitoring European Universities alliances: How EHESO can Contribute to Evidence-Based Monitoring", taking place on 13 October 2026. The workshop will bring together representatives of European Universities alliances, FOREU4ALL, European-level stakeholder organisations and EHESO advisory bodies to discuss data needs, indicators, definitions and practical ways in which EHESO tools can support alliance planning and monitoring. EHESO warmly invites alliance coordinators, institutional research officers, policymakers, researchers and other interested stakeholders to join the discussion and help shape the next steps. If you would like to receive the official invitation and further information once registration opens, we invite you to pre-register your interest here.