Global Europe 2028-2034: "Will R&I and higher education be recognised as a strategic enabler?"

In an opinion piece for News Tank on 9/10/2025, Sean Rowlands, senior policy officer at The Guild, Vincent Fautrel and Niels Keijzer, members of Erasud (the European Research Alliance for Sustainable Development comprised of 12 European research institutions), argue that "enabling knowledge-driven international collaborations linked to the Global Gateway can provide the foundation for sustainable, prosperous knowledge-based economies and are instrumental in tackling common challenges, including health threats, climate change, and digital transformation".

In the piece, written in the context of the Global Gateway Forum held in Brussels from 9 to 10/10/2025, the authors ask how research, innovation and higher education fit into the global outlook. "Will these aspects of cooperation with LMICs (low- and middle-income countries) remain peripheral, or can they be recognised as a strategic enabler of European competitiveness and better implemented to address shared global challenges?"

"Europe’s competitiveness, resilience, and global credibility depend on making research, innovation, and…