Abstract

This paper dwells on the good practices of network university as a product of intergovernmental collaborative activities towards sustainable modernisation of higher education through internationalisation. The university alliances such as University of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (USCO), BRICS University, Baltic University Programme, European Iuniversities Initiative, UNITA (in Italy) serve as an example of international academic and research networking, born by the political will and changing the educational landscape in the regional and international levels. These consortia play a formidable role in further advancement of academic mobility, joint degrees, students and staff internships, quality assurance of study programmes, alongside with research opportunities enhancement. Successful development of this initiative is possible when the nation states provide consequtive legal, financial, and methodological support. Currently, one of the national higher education internationalisation priorities in Kazakhstan is establishment of another network university, under the umbrella of Turkik nation states. This needs more research on the existing models, their sustainability, strengths, weaknesses and threats. The paper is based on a literature review of research publications available in Google Scholar, Semantic scholar, and other databases, conference papers, and governmental documents from open sources.

The neoliberal Good governance theory would lead to better understanding of the goals and mechanisms of activities performed by these university alliances. These theory dimensions such as accountability, engagement, quality, and transparency facilitate the analysis of network university consortium interactions across and within the national borders.

The paper can be of interest for a wide range of the readers engaged in the design, implementation, coordination, and evaluation of academic and research internationalisation projects and programmes under the umbrella of network univerity.