EPSIAE-European Exchange of Higher Education: With Particular Emphasis on Green ICT

The intention of the European Project for Sustainable Information and Communication Technology in Academic Education (EPSIAE,http://www.epsiae.com/) is to raise awareness among students and faculty from various EU countries about the necessity for a more sustainable information and communication technology (ICT) and to confront them with different kinds of aspects to resolve problems of energy and material waste encountered in the ICT industry. The EPSIAE project runs as part of an Intensive Programme funded by the EU and was set up by six academic institutions (Hogeschool INHOLLAND, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Metropolia University, Helsinki, Finland, Birmingham City University, U.K., NTUA, Athens, Greece, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, and University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, Hagenberg, Austria) with the aim to bring together students and teaching staff from these six institutions for a two weeks’ intensive programme each year during the period the ESPIAE project runs (2011-2013). The study sets out to examine the intercultural dynamics within this Intensive Programme shedding a critical light on each setting and investigating the potential increase of global awareness when being emerged in such a cross-border environment where English serves as a vehicular language. We conclude the paper with suggestions on how both results and experiences may be of use for other initiatives within EU ERASMUS or similar student exchange programmes.