BELONG@HEI – Belonging and inclusion in higher education
BELONG@HEI helps higher education institutions create an environment where students feel accepted and included, with particular attention to women and students in a disadvantaged position. Research into their experience feeds the development of educational material, staff training and self-assessment tools for institutions. The aim is to improve the teaching and organisational practices that shape everyday student life.
- Status
- Ongoing
- Length
- 11/2025. – 10/2027.
- Programme
- Erasmus +
BELONG@HEI – Building Inclusive Communities in Higher Education sets out to create an academic environment in which students feel accepted, supported and included in the life of their institution. Particular attention goes to women and to students in a disadvantaged position, whose experience can reveal barriers that the existing forms of support do not recognise well enough.
The project starts from the everyday experience of studying: relationships with teachers and fellow students, the chance to take part, the availability of support, and the sense that the student voice is heard. Through participatory action research, students and staff at higher education institutions take part in identifying the problems and shaping the possible solutions. Their experience, together with an analysis of good practice, is the basis for developing a shared framework for strengthening belonging in higher education.
On that basis the project develops open educational resources, a pedagogical guide and training for teaching and non-teaching staff. The content is meant to help institutions apply inclusion in their teaching, in how they communicate with students and in how they organise support. Workshops and international training allow experience to be exchanged and give practical preparation for using the materials developed.
An important result of the project is a self-assessment tool for inclusion at higher education institutions. It brings together questions, guidance and digital and non-digital resources with which institutions can assess their current practice, identify the areas to improve and follow their progress. The tool links the findings of the self-assessment with the matching educational content, so that institutions can choose their next steps more easily.
The project also develops a guide to introducing educational and organisational change. Its purpose is to help higher education institutions build the results into their regular procedures, their staff development and their long-term planning. In this way BELONG@HEI aims to contribute to a lasting improvement in the experience of studying, and to institutions being better able to answer the varied needs of their students.
Project partners
- Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Germany — project coordinator. Centre for Knowledge Transfer and Lifelong Learning (ZWW).
- European Universities Continuing Education Network – EUCEN, Belgium.
- Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy. The University of Cagliari.
- Outside Media & Knowledge UG, Germany. An organisation specialising in communication, digital content and education.
