On 10 April 2025, the Bureau of the Lisbon Recognition Convention (LRC) met in Rome to advance the development of the Code of Good Practice on Transnational Education. The document is based on the Code of Good Practice in the Provision of Transnational Education adopted by the LRC Committee in 2001 and the revised Code adopted in 2007. The rapidly changing global educational landscape and the impact of new technologies have led to this critical policy review. At their meeting, the LRC Bureau, chaired by Italy with the participation of Denmark and Latvia, and the Secretariats of UNESCO and the Council of Europe, reaffirmed their commitment to improving the experience of students participating in Transnational Education (TNE) programmes and to enhancing research and teaching in this increasingly important area of higher education.

However, the TNE approach also poses significant challenges and risks. Institutional responsibilities may be diffused, for example when TNE programmes are not assigned to a national education system. In such cases, who is responsible for ensuring quality education and student rights? Other barriers may be the limited recognition of TNE qualifications, or varying levels of awareness and cultural understanding of academic integrity and educational fraud in the different countries in which programmes are delivered.

The Code of Good Practice will respond to these challenges by developing clear terminology to establish a common policy language and by providing guidance to national authorities and higher education institutions on stakeholder responsibilities, quality assurance and recognition procedures. The LRC Bureau meeting made significant progress in developing the document, which will be on the agenda of the next meeting of the Lisbon Recognition Convention Committee in October 2025.