Abstract

Partnerships have become a more defining feature of higher education. Their strategic significance has been increasing especially since the 1990s. As Van Ginkel (1996) observes, networking has been one of the key words in higher education and increasingly networks are of an international rather than a national character. They exist in many forms, some small, others large; some local and internal, others global and transnational; some extractive and exploitative, others mutual and participative; some temporary and project based, others more long term and programme based.