Leading Digital Mobility transformation

ESCI Champions are higher education institutions and student organisations that have demonstrated outstanding progress in adopting these digital solutions. Champions are nominated by the Erasmus+ National Agencies and selected by the European Commission, following a rigorous evaluation process. This year saw a record level of participation, with 123 institutions from 30 countries applying.

The University of Pavia stands out as one of only five European universities awarded the Centre of Excellence designation, thanks to its implementation of both Erasmus Without Paper and the European Student Card. Pavia has successfully completed the digital integration of Interinstitutional Agreements for over 76% of its Erasmus+ EU partnerships, applying automated solutions that manage the entire mobility lifecycle, from the application stage to the recognition of activities completed abroad.

A strategic journey: from compliance to institutional transformation

This important recognition crowns a strategic journey that began in 2021, when the University of Pavia decided to approach the Erasmus+ digitalization process not merely as regulatory compliance but as an opportunity to radically rethink the internationalization of teaching and research. The digital transformation project led to a comprehensive review of academic and administrative processes, fostering a student-centered culture of innovation, supported by solid technological infrastructures and governance frameworks.

A Digital Mobility Working Group and an International Mobility Committee were set up, involving departmental delegates, student representatives, and vice-rectors, to ensure an integrated approach aligned with the university’s strategic goals. The Erasmus Digital Officer, a role introduced by the European Commission, played a key part in leading the digital transformation.

Toward a student-centered approach

The University of Pavia sees digitalization as a strategic lever to shorten processing times, simplify compliance, and offer students a clearer and more streamlined experience. In 2024/25, international mobility (incoming and outgoing) involved nearly 2,100 students, compared to just over 800 in 2020/21. This growth is also reflected in Erasmus+ funding: for 2025, the University ranks 9th at the national level, compared to 18th in 2024, with a total contribution of €3,740,327 — a 69% increase, the highest growth trend among Italian universities. On the qualitative side, the adoption of digital workflows has significantly reduced processing times, ensured greater transparency in procedures, and simplified the administrative experience for both students and staff.

The Digital Learning Agreement (DLA) has been a key part of this process. At the University of Pavia, the DLA is not just a replacement for paper forms, but a way to rethink how study plans are created and approved. Integrated with the university’s management systems and connected to ESSE3, it lets students choose courses from constantly updated digital catalogs, reduces errors and speeds up the process through both administrative and academic validation. In 2024/25, more than 60% of Learning Agreements were approved digitally before mobility started, giving students a clearer and easy-to-track process.

Also the EC2U Alliance — of which the University of Pavia is a partner — is actively working in this direction, with digitalization and accessibility among its key priorities. In this context, UNIPV coordinates Work Package 3 (WP3), which focuses on developing platforms and tools to connect and promote digital education initiatives while fostering innovative teaching practices across the Alliance.
At the same time, pilot projects on Joint Degrees within the EC2U Alliance have been launched, along with digital processes to manage international visiting professors and Lifelong Learning programs. The goal is to gradually extend this digital infrastructure to Erasmus traineeships, Blended Intensive Programmes, and non-EU mobility.

A milestone looking to the future

The ESCI Champions will meet on 9 September 2025 in Gothenburg (Sweden) during the EAIE Conference to present their achievements and share experiences with the European higher education community. In the next biennium, the University of Pavia will play an active role in leading the ESCI community, promoting best practices, success stories, and concrete solutions to benefit universities and organizations across Europe.