The Centre for Small State Studies at the University of Iceland was recently awarded a grant from the European Union’s Erasmus+ programme. The project focuses on a strategic partnership between higher education institutions and will last for two years. The University of Iceland is the lead partner, with five other universities participating in the project: The University of Copenhagen, Vilnius University, Tallinn University of Technology, the University of Ljubljana and Århus University. The Centre for Small State Studies is run under the auspices of the Institute of International Affairs at the University of Iceland.
The aim of the project “Leadership in Small States (LIST)”, is to develop a Massive Open Online Course for the highly acclaimed edX platform. This course will train students and young academics and equip them with the skills to take on a leadership role at home and abroad. Small states face structural disadvantages related to their size in the international community. Clever diplomacy and powerful leadership are imperative in compensating for these disadvantages, not least for small states, as they are characterized by higher personalism than larger states.
This Erasmus+ grant is a great acknowledgment of the work carried out by the Centre for Small State Studies. In 2013, the Centre was awarded a Centre of Excellence grant from the European Union and has operated as a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence since then. The Centre furthermore received Erasmus+ grants in 2014, 2016 and 2018 for projects on the opportunities and challenges of small states in Europe. The Centre for Small State Studies has organized an annual summer school since 2003 and has received an award of excellence from Erasmus+ for that project.