How Danish university built European identity while staying globally minded
A new study reveals how Aalborg University strategically embraced European integration in the 1980s-90s without narrowing its international ambitions—offering a playbook for institutions navigating regional bloc integration. The findings suggest that regional alignment and global outlook aren't mutually exclusive, a lesson relevant to universities and research institutions worldwide facing pressure to choose between local, European, and global priorities.
Originaltitel: A careful embrace: Tracing the Europeanisation of Aalborg University, 1980–1994
This article examines the Europeanisation of Aalborg University Centre (AUC) from the early 1980s to the mid-1990s – a period during which AUC transformed from a young, small, and emerging university still shaping its identity into a well-established institution with a defined academic profile and extensive international collaborations. Founded in 1974 with a strong regional focus, AUC nonetheless pursued international initiatives early on, driven by both university management and faculty members. The study focuses on how these efforts – initially framed as internationalisation and later as Europeanisation – were reflected in the university magazine Center Nyt , which served as the primary internal communication channel for nearly two decades. For AUC, international engagement became a key strategy for establishing a distinct identity within the Danish university landscape. Given Denmark’s accession to the EC in 1973 and AUC’s founding shortly thereafter, European institutions have always been a significant part of the university’s environment. The study concludes that while AUC embraced Europe and Europeanisation, this did not limit its broader international outlook, recognising that its global engagement extended beyond Europe.