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The G3: a strategic and innovative academic alliance in the Francophone world

All world-class universities now have an international dimension which they wish to further develop and/or consolidate in various ways. No matter the extent of their international activities, the scope of their projects, the characteristics or the speed at which those projects are progressing, universities are driven by a willingness to develop internationally. It is in this context that the Université de Genève (UNIGE), Université de Montréal (UdeM) and Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) decided to create in 2012 the G3, an innovative alliance that would offer faculty, researchers and students a unique space from which they can share their expertise, carry out inventive projects and shed light on higher education in the Francophonie. Within the framework of the FAUBAI conference, the G3 members wish to encourage dialogue with their Brazilian as well as foreign counterparts on the strategies aimed at equitable
internationalisation and to discuss the conditions which underpin the sustainability of partnerships. To do so, they propose to highlight the G3’s experience in regards to the main pillars of academic cooperation. Here is the overview:

- Strategic multilateral partnerships:

Following the acceleration of Universities’ internationalisation process over the last few years, several bilateral partnerships have achieved a degree of maturity, which has the effect of encouraging institutions to transform these fruitful bilateral relationships into multilateral strategic partnerships. The G3 is exactly in line with this new trend which, while it presents a number of challenges for partner universities, has lead to sustainable and equitable internationalisation for the members, who jointly share in the benefits.

- Innovative training programmes:

In terms of training, the proponents of internationalisation advocate for the creation of new models of cooperation that are part of a much broader framework and which have a greater scope than “traditional” student mobility. Indeed, institutions that have acquired an international cooperation experience with strategic partners, through student exchanges and research collaborations, now aim to structure their cooperation through the development of joint courses, seminars, internships or other value-added training projects which will be recognized towards a student’s degree.

- Research:

Research collaborations are another development priority within strategic partnerships. Interdisciplinarity becomes a unique and competitive advantage in order to obtain funding, but also in addressing such major global challenges as food security, public health, climate change, water scarcity, governance, transnational crime, etc. In addition, these strategic partnerships are vectors of scientific and social innovation, thanks to high-level academic research which stimulates the economy within a knowledge society.

- Institutional Support:

In order to stimulate collaborative initiatives, the G3 has created a common funding programme which provides seed-money and is equally financed by each member institution. The projects must include a professor-researcher from each University and must be in line with their institutional policy for the development of an academic and/or scientific area of excellence.

- The Francophonie:

The G3 member universities are institutions which are truly international, situated in multilingual and cosmopolitan cities. While they recognise the usefulness of English as a lingua franca (or working language) in a number of scientific fields, the G3 have chosen to foster and promote their expertise within the Francophonie. In a time when English dominates, the G3 partners reaffirm the importance of collaborating in French – and in other languages – and stress the importance for institutions to adopt policies on the language which is used for teaching and research on their campus.

- University governance:

Among the strategies used to encourage equitable and sustainable internationalisation among partners is the sharing of information and best practices in terms of University governance. To this end, the G3 has identified a few crosscutting themes that the members wish to address collectively in an effort to continuously improve their management processes.

Author(s):

Guy Lefebvre    
Université de Montréal
Canada

Stéphanie Dion    
Université de Montréal
Canada