Bologna Process and the Internationalisation of the Third Mission of the University: Completing the Policy Script

The present paper investigates key arguments for the inclusion of the third mission of the university into the internationalisation policy script of the Bologna Process. Existing concrete initiatives in this area are scrutinised as evidence for both the necessity and practical possibility of such an endeavour. Excellent studies are available that underscore the centrality of internationalisation to the entire Process as well as its particularities. One of these particularities has to do with the fact that the focus of the Bologna Process discourse on internationalisation and related initiatives in the European Higher Education Area touches primarily, if not exclusively, on aspects regarding education (especially student mobility), which is only one of the three main missions of the university, along with research and service to society. This paper discusses the reasons for leaving out the third mission so far and concludes with further arguments for considering internationalization of the third mission when reflecting on the priorities and targets for the future of the European Higher Education Area.