Universities as Agents of Inclusive and Sustainable Communities: Insights from a Documentary Case Study of Erasmus+ Transnational Higher Education Networks

Abstract

This study explores how transnational higher education networks may contribute to the development of more inclusive and sustainable communities through collaborative learning, institutional capacity building, and cross-cultural academic cooperation. Higher education institutions increasingly play an important role in promoting social inclusion, active citizenship, and sustainable development beyond their traditional functions of teaching and research. Using the Erasmus+ SOLIDARIS project as an interpretive case study, this research examines how collaboration among European and Latin American universities supported the development of shared competency frameworks, faculty learning processes, and institutional practices related to inclusion and civic engagement. This study adopted an interpretive qualitative documentary case study design based on the Erasmus+ SOLIDARIS project. The documentary corpus comprised project reports, training materials, competency frameworks, and selected institutional documents and project outputs generated during the initiative. The findings indicate that sustained transnational collaboration was associated with institutional learning, collaborative academic practices, and the co-design of educational tools that supported inclusive participation and capacity-building processes across diverse institutional contexts. The analysis also highlights challenges related to contextual adaptation, organizational asymmetries, and the sustainability of collaborative initiatives beyond external funding periods. The study contributes to discussions on the role of higher education institutions as agents of sustainable and inclusive communities, suggesting that transnational university networks may support long-term social engagement, institutional innovation and context-sensitive collaborative responses.