A few days ago, we welcomed a delegation from six Danish universities to Howest. The visit lasted only a few days, but the conversations stayed with me long after our guests had returned home.
When people hear the word internationalisation, they often think about student exchanges, study abroad programmes or Erasmus mobility. Those remain valuable and they always will. But after spending time with colleagues from Denmark, I was reminded that internationalisation is becoming something much bigger.
The future of higher education is increasingly being built through international networks of institutions that learn from each other, innovate together and tackle shared challenges collectively. And that matters more than ever.
The challenges we face are no longer local
During the discussions with our Danish colleagues, I was struck by how similar our conversations were. Whether we were talking about AI in education, digital transformation, skills shortages, student engagement, international mobility or curriculum design, the same themes kept emerging.
How do we prepare students for jobs that are changing faster than ever? How should educators respond to generative AI? Which skills will remain valuable when technology can automate more tasks? How do we keep higher education relevant for society and business?
These are not Belgian questions. They are European questions. And increasingly, they are global questions. No university, no matter how strong, can solve them alone.
Why visits like this matter
It is easy to underestimate the value of hosting international visitors. From the outside, it can look like another official delegation, another series of presentations, another campus tour. But the real value lies in something less visible. The conversations in between. The exchange of experiences. The moments where someone describes a challenge they are facing and you realise:
“We’re struggling with exactly the same thing.”
Or the opposite:
“That’s an interesting approach. Why aren’t we doing that?”
Those moments accelerate learning. A good international partnership allows institutions to learn in days what might otherwise take years of trial and error.
Howest is not just participating. We are contributing.
One thing made me particularly proud during the Danish visit. The conversations were not one-directional. We were not simply listening and learning. We were also sharing.
Over the past years, Howest has built a strong reputation in areas such as applied IT education, cybersecurity, internationalisation, innovation projects and industry collaboration. More recently, we have been investing heavily in AI literacy and helping students develop the skills they need to work effectively, critically and responsibly with AI. These were topics that generated significant interest among our visitors. That is important.
Higher education is often described as a knowledge ecosystem. But ecosystems only work when knowledge flows in multiple directions.
Strong partnerships are not built on one institution teaching another. They are built on mutual exchange.
AI is making international collaboration more important
If there was one topic that appeared in almost every conversation during the visit, it was artificial intelligence. Not because everyone was talking about the latest AI tools. But because everyone is trying to answer the same educational questions.
- How should we assess students?
- How do we teach critical thinking when AI can generate plausible answers in seconds?
- What does AI literacy actually mean?
- How do we prepare graduates for workplaces where AI becomes part of everyday work?
The reality is simple. None of us have all the answers. And that is precisely why international cooperation matters. The pace of technological change is simply too fast for institutions to work in isolation. We need networks. We need partners. We need opportunities to share what works and what doesn’t.
Internationalisation is becoming a driver of innovation
For a long time, internationalisation was often viewed as a separate activity. Something managed by an international office. Something measured through mobility numbers. That view feels increasingly outdated. Today, internationalisation is becoming intertwined with innovation.
The best partnerships create opportunities for:
- Joint research
- Shared educational innovation
- New learning experiences
- Industry collaboration
- Skills development
- Talent mobility
- European funding opportunities
In other words, internationalisation is becoming a strategic tool for institutional development. Not an add-on. A driver.
What students gain
Students may never see most of the meetings, discussions and partnerships that happen behind the scenes. But they experience the outcomes. They gain access to broader networks. New opportunities, international projects. Different perspectives. Connections with peers and professionals from across Europe.
In a world where careers are becoming increasingly international and digital, those experiences matter.
The graduates entering the labour market today will collaborate with people from different countries, cultures and disciplines throughout their careers. Universities have a responsibility to prepare them for that reality.
Looking ahead
The recent visit from the Danish universities left me optimistic. Not because it produced a spectacular announcement. Not because it generated a headline. But because it demonstrated something important. Across Europe, universities are wrestling with remarkably similar questions about AI, skills, innovation and the future of education. And instead of trying to solve them independently, more institutions are choosing to tackle them together.
That is good news.
Because the challenges ahead are becoming increasingly complex. But so are the networks we are building to address them. For institutions like Howest, internationalisation is no longer just about crossing borders. It is about creating connections that help students, staff and organisations learn faster, innovate better and prepare for a future that none of us can fully predict on our own. And after spending a few days exchanging ideas with our Danish colleagues, I am more convinced than ever that those connections will be among the most valuable assets a university can have.