OpenEU at the EADTU-EU 2025 Summit: Advancing Interoperability in Europe

Brussels, 14 May 2025 — The OpenEU Alliance reaffirmed its strategic commitment to the future of higher education at the  13th European Distance Education Summit (EADTU-EU 2025) held today in Brussels. Under the theme “Interoperability in action: connecting European higher education”, the summit gathered European leaders and experts to explore how digital collaboration and harmonization can shape a more connected, scalable, and inclusive European Higher Education Area (EHEA). 

 Organised by the European Association of Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU), OpenEU associated partner, the summit featured the participation of key representatives from OpenEU, the alliance of Europe’s leading open and distance universities. The event was opened by Theo Bastiaens, President of EADTU, Rector of the Open Universiteit (Netherlands), and member of OpenEU, who urged university alliances to move from theory to full interoperability across the European Higher Education Area. 

Pastora Martínez Samper, UOC’s Commissioner for International Action and coordinator of OpenEU, emphasized that the alliance is not just a consortium but a driver of transformation:

“We launched OpenEU because we were already working together to push things forward. Now, we want to transform together to be at the forefront of Higher Education in Europe.”

OpenEU in the spotlight: interoperability with purpose

Central to the discussions was the alliance’s commitment to developing interoperable digital systems designed to support people, foster inclusion, and enable lifelong learning—going beyond technology alone

Àngels Fitó, Rector of the UOC, President of OpenEU, and Vice President of EADTU, underscored the role of open universities in reaching underserved groups:

“Today, we’ve talked about skills, systems, accessibility, and databases—but at the heart of everything we’ve discussed are people. Interoperability isn’t just technical; it’s a tool to democratize knowledge and expand opportunity.”

The use case of “openEU Professional GPS” Tool: connecting learning with labour markets

Carme Pagès, Director of UOC’s Labour Market Research and Analysis Unit, presented Professional GPS, a digital tool that links learners’ profiles with labour market needs using a cross-European skills framework.

“There’s a disconnect between the language universities speak and the language of the labor market. The Professional GPS aims to be the translator between the two.”

The tool already has more than 3,000 users at UOC and now is being integrated into OpenEU’s joint portfolio strategy.

With examples like GPS, the summit underlined the leadership of European Universities alliances such as OpenEU, Una Europa, and EuroTech in testing and scaling interoperable solutions — from joint virtual campuses to shared course catalogues and European learner IDs.

In his closing remarks, Theo Bastiaens summarised the main takeaways of the event and called for bold next steps. He urged alliances to move beyond theory and pilots and prepare for full interoperability across the European education space.

The next opportunity to engage with the EADTU network will be its Annual Conference, taking place in October 2025 at Fern Universität in Hagen, Germany.

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