Objectives and Functionalities of Stepping Stones
In today’s interconnected world, gaining international experience is essential to a more holistic higher education. ENLIGHT Stepping Stones provide a seamless way for students to enhance their education with meaningful global learning opportunities to fit individual needs and aspirations. A model for designing study programmes with an integrated international experience, the Stepping Stones recommend types of learning opportunities or formats that can be considered for internationalising curricula and how they can be purposefully linked with each other to offer meaningful, complementary learning experiences for students.
Through a combination of virtual, blended, and physical mobility opportunities with different intensities, the Stepping Stones model allows students to choose, combine, accumulate, and intensify different disciplinary or interdisciplinary credit-bearing learning experiences across study programmes at different partner universities.
The first learning opportunity offered thus becomes the Stepping Stone to go on and discover the next.
These Stepping Stones show a combination of examples of international learning opportunities for which ENLIGHT offers support in the search for partners, educational development, and administration of application and recognition procedures. But Stepping Stones should be adapted to suit the needs and objectives of the individual study programmes, their teachers, and their students.
We therefore encourage programmes to also explore other credit- or non-credit-bearing international exchange opportunities.
Why is flexible international learning important
Mobility remains a powerful tool for cultural immersion, fostering international and intercultural competencies such as cultural awareness, plurilingual skills, collaboration across cultures, and critical appreciation of diverse perspectives—essential for addressing global issues locally and enhancing graduate employability. However, as only a minority of students access programme-related studies abroad, internationalising curricula becomes crucial to ensure all students can acquire these skills. By integrating flexible international learning formats into study programmes, institutions provide low-threshold opportunities for international experiences that are easily planned, aligned with study plans, and accessible even from home, making programmes future-proof, globally relevant, and attractive to diverse learners.
ENLIGHT Stepping Stones aim to:
- Enhance inclusivity and diversify student participation: By offering Internationalisation at Home activities, they ensure all students, including those unable to travel, can develop international and intercultural competencies. Such activities should offer a solid base of international and intercultural competences to all students.
- Encourage progression: A build-up of learning activities gradually deepen the intensity of international experiences, ultimately preparing students to take the leap to a physical mobility.
Orientation on integrating international perspectives into Curricula
The ENLIGHT Stepping Stones model is meant to provide orientation on how international perspectives and internationalised educational activities can be implemented in existing curricula and new programmes. Naturally, a tailor-made combination of international and intercultural learning opportunities depends on the content and academic culture of the respective study programmes.
While every international experience is important, in the long run, the implementation of several Stepping Stone components will allow students to begin their international exchange with an Internationalisation at Home experience (e.g., physical or online guest lectures, virtual courses and virtual exchange), move on to short-term mobility (summer/winter schools, ERASMUS+ Blended Intensive Programmes), take a language course, and eventually continue with a traditional semester exchange. Ultimately the ENLIGHT Stepping Stones facilitate a seamless continuation of studies from BA to MA and from MA to PhD level (vertical mobility), or the completion of a joint or double degree, possibly at a university the students already know from one of the initiatives mentioned above.
Implementing ENLIGHT Stepping Stones
The full and transparent recognition of embedded teaching and learning initiatives is ensured. This is based on agreements and administrative support in the ENLIGHT alliance. Depending on the components and regulations attached to them, applications for participation and for mobility funds however vary.
Possible steps in the development of an overarching vision and a well-considered strategy on internationalisation for your programme or the setting up of a single international teaching and learning activity.