The world of work is increasingly facing global challenges that require global cooperation – navigating AI transformations, advancing democratic resilience, and ultimately the internationalization of the professional world itself. Addressing these challenges requires cultivating two key future qualifications in a special setting: the ability to collaborate and to engage in inquiry-based and research-oriented learning across cultural boundaries. These capacities enable individuals to co-create knowledge and develop solutions in diverse teams. Yet, it is precisely the promotion of such integrated competencies that is often neglected in teaching and curricula.

In this presentation, we will outline the innovative design of a cross-national, cross-disciplinary seminar. The EAGLE Project (Experiential Authentic Global Learning Environment) is an educational initiative designed to develop intercultural competence, combined with collaborative and research-based learning, as a core learning outcome through an international, hybrid seminar format. Anchored in constructivist pedagogy and the experiential learning framework, EAGLE leverages authentic, interdisciplinary collaboration to create learning experiences that extend beyond artificial classroom settings.

The teaching and learning approach follows a didactic structure in which students from different countries jointly participate in a seminar explicitly aimed at intercultural learning. Following an initial hybrid block seminar, students engage in self-directed, collaborative research within international teams. This way the development of intercultural competence is combined with academic research skills in an authentic global learning environment. Finally, students present their findings at one of the partner universities during an on-site exchange. The in-person encounters and contextualized excursions further reinforce experiential learning outcomes. Here, continuous meta-reflection, facilitated through learning journals supports the internalization of intercultural insights.

First insights into student reflections indicate a shift in intercultural awareness, enhanced motivation for international cooperation, and a broadened, more flexible approach to problem-solving. Participants reported an appreciation of global interconnectivity and the value of diverse perspectives in academic and professional contexts.

This presentation underscores the transformative potential of EAGLE as a model for internationalizing higher education. It offers insights into how structured, experiential formats can foster intercultural competence and prepare students to interact effectively and empathetically in a globally networked working world.

Keywords: Experiential learning, hybrid teaching and learning, 21st century skills, intercultural competence, global learning environments, internationalization at home, authentic assessment, cross-disciplinary, collaborative learning, interdisciplinary, higher education didactics, transformative skills.