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International initiative
An International initiative is a concept which is not in the UNESCO "Virtual Universities" classification scheme but is an extension ot its concept of a National initiative.
It refers to an initiative taken by a supranational political grouping or range of countries in a region - such as the European Union - to set up a programme focussed on e-learning in university-level institutions.
If the initiative involves more than one country but not many then it is not classified as an international iniatiative but as a multinational initiative.
If the initiative involves just one country or a region within that country then it is called a national initiative.
Very often the international initiative will set up a consortium or generate a newly created institution of a unique nature in the nations involved. This leads to some overlap of the UNESCO classifications.
International initiatives
There is an automatically maintained list of these at Category:International initiatives. This has currently (June 2009) around 20 entries but is slowly growing.