HEQUITY

Hequity: Building Higher Education Quality Inclusion Pathways

The HEQUITY project aims to increase cooperation in order to promote inclusion and diversity at institutional and political level within European higher education institutions (HEI). This objective will be achieved by improving knowledge and awareness of effective strategies relating to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies (DEI) for migrants at administrative level within higher education institutions (HEI), and by promoting the development of skills among higher education staff and political researchers to support the enforcement of these policies.

The project has three objectives:

to increase cooperation in order to promote inclusion and diversity in European higher education institutions (HEI);
to raise awareness and knowledge of effective DEI strategies for migrants;
to strengthen skills development for HEI staff and political researchers.

Partner

The project is coordinated by the Belgian organisation ECEPPA (European Centre for Economic and Policy Analysis and Affairs), which is the lead partner. Alongside the association Popoli Insieme ODV, the initiative also involves leading European universities: Latvijas Universitāte in Latvia, Sakarya Üniversitesi in Turkey and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium.

Hequity in Padova - a Study Visit focusing on the inclusion of refugee and international students

From 17 to 20 June 2025, we hosted the official study visit for the European HEQUITY project in Padova. The initiative witnessed the active participation of international partners from Belgium, Latvia and Turkey, who came together with a common goal: to develop innovative and collaborative strategies to promote the effective inclusion of refugee and international students within the higher education system.

Over the course of these four days, a series of events took place aiming to promote the local ecosystem and build new support networks: there was a key session of dialogue with the International Relations Office at the University of Padova, focusing on welcoming policies, the recognition of academic qualifications and pathways to academic integration; and then an important opportunity to listen to and engage with the beneficiaries we support directly through the Arrupe Project, offering our international partners first-hand evidence of the real impact these initiatives have on the local community.
Lastly, there were some interesting and stimulating working sessions aimed at defining the project’s next strategic steps, including the drafting of an academic research article on equity models in higher education and the scheduling of the next European meetings.

The Study Visit took place alongside Refugee Week. The event reaffirmed the central role of education as a key tool for empowerment, integration and the protection of human rights.
Thanks to the synergies created and strengthened over the past few days, we continue to work alongside our European partners to break down barriers to access to university education and build an education system that is truly fair, open and inclusive.

Hequity in Leuven - Consortium Meeting at KU Leuven

On 28 and 29 January 2026, the Consortium Meeting of the European HEQUITY project took place in Leuven, Belgium – a major international event hosted by the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven). The meeting featured active participation from all project partners to discuss the progress made and set out guidelines for future actions.

The two-day workshop focused on the presentation and detailed discussion of the data collected during the focus group held in Padova last December. This research enabled us to gather testimonies, needs and best practices directly from those involved in the local context, providing a solid empirical basis for the development of the project’s next phases.
The meeting in Leuven marked another significant step towards building a higher education system that is more fair, accessible and focused on social justice. The HEQUITY Project continues to focus strongly on students who are migrants, refugees or from migrant backgrounds, promoting practical solutions to break down the bureaucratic, cultural and social barriers that prevent them from pursuing higher education.

International collaboration with institutions such as KU Leuven enhances the quality and impact of our work, strengthening a European network committed to making the university an open and inclusive space for all.

Extra meeting in Padova

From 10 to 12 June 2026, we hosted the partners of the HEQUITY project (Building Higher Education Quality InclUsIon PaThwaYs) in Padova.

Three full days of work and discussion took place at the Job Campus, one of the halls of residence at the Don Nicola Mazza University College: a particularly meaningful setting in which to reflect on the issues at the heart of the initiative. HEQUITY was, in fact, launched with a clear objective: to analyse and overcome the barriers and inequalities that students from migrant backgrounds face on a daily basis in accessing, remaining in and participating in university life.
During the meeting, we focused on experimenting directly with the project toolkit, a strategic tool designed to support universities and university staff in adopting policies and practices that are more sensitive to equity, diversity and inclusion.
By alternating simulations of individual exercises with brainstorming sessions and collective review, we tested the effectiveness of the activities, identified their strengths and refined the sections still to be incorporated with a focus on future developments.

Next step: international training in Sakarya

The results of these sessions in Padua will provide the foundations for the next event: the international training session scheduled for 21–25 September 2026 in Sakarya, Turkey.
On that occasion, the toolkit’s activities will be tested in practice with an even wider audience, giving us the opportunity to gather further essential feedback to help us finalise a practical tool designed to promote academic inclusion.