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17/05/2012
Council of Europe plays active role in “Bologna” Ministerial Conference
Ministers of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) – also known as the Bologna Process – met in Bucharest on 26 – 27 April. The Bologna Policy Forum, gathering EHEA ministers and high ranking representatives of countries from other parts of the world, was held end on with the EHEA Ministerial conference.
The Council of Europe contributed very actively to both events, in the Ministerial conference as a participant in a panel debate and as a contributor to the general debate and in the Bologna Policy Forum by organizing sessions on qualifications frameworks and on the public responsibility for higher education, the latter jointly with the International Association of Universities.
The EHEA Ministers adopted the Bucharest Communiqué and a Mobility Strategy, whereas the Bologna Policy Forum adopted a statement.
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13/01/2012
Seminar on the implementation of the European Higher Education Area in the Republic of Moldova
On 1-2 December, the Free International University of Moldova hosted a seminar on the implementation of the European Higher Education Area in the Republic of Moldova. The event was organised by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Moldova and the Council of Europe in co-operation with the Bologna Secretariat. The participants – representatives of higher education institutions from the Republic of Moldova and abroad, of public authorities and international institutions – reviewed the higher education reform in the Republic of Moldova in order to ensure convergence with the principles of EHEA. A biennial Forum for the Modernisation of Higher Education will be organised in order to analyse the achievements, challenges, reform actions and policies needed to move forward, and public discussion of the National Qualifications Framework with external expertise and certification of compliance to the European Qualifications Framework shall be promoted.
Link to the documents and presentations from the seminar
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07/11/2011
Council of Europe is Interviewed by GUNI
GUNI (the Global University Network for Innovation) recently published an interview with the Head of the Council of Europe’s Education Department, Sjur Bergan. The text is in English, the interview itself in Spanish with English subtitles.
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28/09/2011
Council of Europe highlights the role of education in building a culture of living together
In the aftermath of the dramatic events in Oslo, the Council of Europe discussed the role of education in building a culture of living together at a Forum organised on 22 and 23 September in Kyiv under the Ukrainian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.At the end of the Forum a Communiqué was adopted. [More]
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05/07/2011
Successful conference on ‘Reimagining democratic societies’ in Oslo
On 27 – 29 July, the Council of Europe, the US Steering Committee of the International Consortium for Higher Education, Civic Responsibility and Democracy, the European Wergeland Centre, the University of Oslo and the International Association of Universities (IAU) organized a conference on “Reimagining Democratic Societies: a New Era of personal and Social Responsibility?" with the support of the Norwegian Ministries of Education and Foreign Affairs. The conference was held at the University of Oslo as a part of its 200th anniversary celebrations and the Norwegian Minister of Higher Education and Research, Tora Aasland, the Rector of the University of Oslo, Ole Petter Ottersen, and the coordinator for Council of Europe issues in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Carola Bjørklund, were among the speakers at the opening session.
Material from the conference will be published as it is made available; here is a first summary.
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23/06/2011
Reimagining democratic societies: a new era of personal and social responsibility?
Oslo, Norway – June 27-29, 2011
The international conference organized by various European, US and Norwegian institutions1 takes place in the framework of the 200th anniversary of the University of Oslo. The aim is to promote democracy, human rights and the rule of law as well as social cohesion, intercultural dialogue and the role of education to reach these goals.
The focus is on the role of higher education in relation to the reimagination of democratic societies and democratic citizenship. Thereby, workshops with ca. 150 representatives from higher education institutions, administrations, student unions and local communities develop further strategies to strengthen this role.
For more information, visit the conference website.
Here you can find the draft programme.
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23/06/2011
Council of Europe speaks at European Access Network anniversary conference
The European Access Network celebrated its 20th anniversary with a conference at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam on 20 – 22 June. The topic of this year’s conference was “Student Diversity in Higher Education: Conflicting Realities” and the Council of Europe was invited to give one of two keynote speeches at the opening session.
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21/06/2011
New book in the Council of Europe Higher Education Series
Volume 17 of the Council of Europe Higher Education Series has just been published. Entitled Not by Bread Alone, the book brings together a series of essays by Sjur Bergan, Head of the Council of Europe’s higher education programme, covering the missions of higher education, reflections on public responsibility for higher education and issues concerning qualifications and recognition.
All titles in the Council of Europe Higher Education Series may be ordered through the Council of Europe bookshop.
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21/06/2011
Publication of the European University Association's 2010 Annual Report
The European University Association (EUA) 2010 Annual Report highlights the importance of the formal launch of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) in Vienna/Budapest in March 2010. At the same time the coming into force of the EU Lisbon Treaty with its Title XIX on European research marked a success for the European Research Area (ERA). Thereby, data provided by more than 800 universities in the Trends 2010 report demonstrated the EUA's role at the centre of the EHEA and the ERA.
Moreover, the EUA 2010 Annual Conference in Palermo entitled “Diversities and Commonalities – the changing face of Europe’s universities” identified the crucial role of university leaders in steering their institutions in difficult times, requiring universities to sharpen their missions and individual profiles in response to growing demands and the continued economic crisis.
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21/06/2011
Council of Europe speaks at conference to mark 10th anniversary of Turkey’s accession to the Bologna Process
On 15 June, the Turkish authorities and higher education community marked the 10th anniversary of Turkey’s accession to the European Higher Education Area with a conference on “Bologna Implementations in Turkey after 10 Years”. The conference was organized jointly by the Turkish Council of Higher Education, Galatasaray University and Turkish National Agency. The Conference focused on the most important dimensions on the implementations of the Bologna Process and brought together the Rectors of all higher education institutions in Turkey, together with representatives from the National Student Union, the Vocational Qualifications Authority and other relevant stakeholders as well as international speakers. The Council of Europe provided a presentation on the achievements and challenges of qualifications frameworks.
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31/05/2011
Council of Europe speaks at ACA conference
The 2011 conference of the Academic Cooperation Association was held in Vienna on 23 – 24 May on the theme of “The Excellence Imperative: World Class Aspirations and Real World Needs”. The conference provided a good overview of the main topics related to excellence and drew on presentations from international organizations as well as higher education institutions, public authorities and individual experts, such as Professor Ellen Hazelkorn, Dublin Institute of Technology. It took a broad view of the excellence debate, including topics such as the role of liberal arts in Europe and “the responsible university”, for which the Council of Europe provided the plenary presentation.
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31/05/2011
Council of Europe contributes to Hungarian EU Presidency conference on the EQF
The Hungarian EU Presidency organized a conference to take stock of the development and implementation of the European Qualifications Framework for lifelong learning in Budapest on May 25- 26. The conference gathered some 180 education policy makers and practitioners, covering all fields and levels of education, from most EU members states as well as some participants from other countries and from international organizations and NGOs. The Council of Europe participated actively in discussion groups as well as in the final plenary panel discussion. Here, the Council of Europe in particular underlined the need for qualifications framework to fulfill the multiple purposes of education, including furthering democratic citizenship.
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20/05/2011
Council of Europe participates in UNESCO forum on rankings
The Council of Europe participated in the UNESCO Global Forum “Rankings and Accountability in Higher Education: Uses and Misuses”, which was held in Paris on 16 – 17 May 2011. The Council also chaired one of the plenary sessions. The Forum gave an overview of the major international as well as some national ranking systems and also provided a platform for those skeptical of rankings.
In 2009, the Council of Europe’s Steering Committee on Higher Education and Research (CDESR) adopted a statement on quality assurance, ranking and classification in the light of the missions of higher education.
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20/05/2011
EQAR accepts three new agencies
The European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR) has now accepted three new quality assurance agencies, from Denmark, France and the Netherlands, bringing the total number of agencies in the Register to 27. Read full denials in the press release.
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20/05/2011
The Council of Europe contributes to a Conference on recognition
A Stakeholder’s Conference on recognition in the European Higher Education Area was held in Riga on the 28 and 29 April. The programme as well as the preparatory documents can be found at the following site: http://www.aic.lv/bolona/rigaconf. Following the national action plans on recognition, the BFUG (Bologna Follow up Group) Working Group on Recognition decided to organise this Conference to gain more insight into existing challenges and to draft recommendations to be included in the next Ministerial Communiqué to be adopted in Bucharest in April 2012. Kevin Guillaume from the ENIC/NARIC Centre of the French Speaking Community of Belgium is currently finalizing the general report which will be available soon.
[More]
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09/03/2011
New Handbook on Higher Education Governance
Leadership and Governance in Higher Education – Handbook for Decision-makers and Administrators has just been published by Dr. Joseph Raabe Verlag in Berlin. The Council of Europe is strongly involved in the project as Sjur Bergan, Head of the Council’s Department of Higher Education and History Teaching, and Professor Jürgen Kohler, former Rector of Greifswald University and currently a member of the Bureau of the Council’s Steering Committee for Higher Education and Research, are among the co-editors. The editorial assistant, Martina Vukasović, is a former Council of Europe trainee.
The handbook aims to provide leaders, members of governing bodies and senior administrators of higher education institutions with a tool to support their work which is practically oriented as well as based on reflections of principle. It is published as a basic edition, which has just been issued, and regular supplements.
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01/12/2010
Seminar on ‘Promoting quality culture in higher education institutions on both sides of the river Dniestr/Nistru’
This event was organised within the framework of a set of confidence-building measures in the field of education for the Transnistrian region, which was approved by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on 20 January 2010. It took place on 17-18 November 2010 in Odessa. The seminar focused on internal quality development and assurance in higher education institutions, exploring the role of university leadership, academic staff and students in promoting and advancing quality culture. [More]
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17/04/2012
Background documents for the Bologna Ministerial Conference
The Ministerial conference of the European Higher Education Area will be held in Bucharest on 26 – 27 April 2012. Most background documents are now available; including the report by the Working Group on Qualifications Frameworks, chaired by the Council of Europe.
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16/01/2012
Bologna Seminar on Student Participation in Higher Education Governance
On 8-9 December in Aghveran, Armenia, a Bologna Seminar on student participation in higher education governance was co-organised by the Ministry of Education and Science of Armenia, the European Students’ Union and the Council of Europe. The objective of the seminar was to look into topical issues of student participation in higher education governance and quality assurance, from institutional to national and international levels, outlining the main problems and obstacles, looking for examples of good practice and proposing a way forward.
Link to the documents and presentations from the seminar
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09/12/2011
The Council of Europe contributes to publication on the social commitment of universities
GUNI – the Global University Network for Innovation – is just launched its 4th report on the social commitment of universities, entitled Higher Education’s Commitment to Sustainability: from Commitment to Action. The publication includes an article on “Goals and Purposes of Higher Education in Modern, Complex Societies” by the Head of the Council of Europe’s Education Department, Sjur Bergan.
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02/11/2011
Agency for Development of Higher Education and Quality Assurance in Bosnia and Herzegovina (HEA BiH) finalized the legislative framework for accreditation of higher education institutions
The Steering Board of the Agency for Development of Higher Education and Quality Assurance of BiH (HEA BiH) on 24 October 2011 give its approval to the Decision on norms setting the minimum standards in higher education, the Rulebook on maintaining the state register of accredited higher education institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Instruction on the assessment of the compliance of the accreditation decision with the minimum standards and criteria for accreditation. With the adoption of these documents, the HEA BiH has completed the legislative framework for accreditation of higher education institutions, which falls under the competence of the Agency. These documents are the result of an intensive work of the Agency which was supported by the joint European Union/Council of Europe project “Strengthening Higher Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina” 2009-2011, which focused in particular on quality assurance and qualifications frameworks development and drew on international expertise, capacity building and study visits.
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13/10/2011
South East Europe : Development of Qualifications frameworks
The South East European network for Qualifications development held its fourth meeting in Istanbul on 15 and 16 September 2011. 8 countries from the region presented the situation regarding Qualification frameworks. Some countries are in the process of self certification (Romania) or referencing and self certification (Croatia); some just start the process. All material presented during the meeting as well as the reports of the different working groups are available here.
The meeting was evaluated very positively as offering a space of exchanges and common reflection to common challenges.
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28/06/2011
Publication of the European University Association's 2010 Annual Report
The European University Association (EUA) 2010 Annual Report highlights the importance of the formal launch of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) in Vienna/Budapest in March 2010. Nevertheless, it states not only the success of the future is in the hands of universities but at the same time the coming into force of the EU Lisbon Treaty with its Title XIX on European research marked a success for the European Research Area (ERA). Thereby, data provided by more than 800 universities in the Trends 2010 report demonstrated the EUA's role at the centre of the EHEA and the ERA.
Moreover, the EUA 2010 Annual Conference in Palermo entitled “Diversities and Commonalities – the changing face of Europe’s universities” identified the crucial role of university leaders in steering their institutions in difficult times, requiring universities to sharpen their missions and individual profiles in response to growing demands and the continued economic crisis.
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08/06/2011
Seminar ‘Reforms in the higher education system in Ukraine’
On 31 May - 01 June, the Ministry of Education and Science, Youth and Sport of Ukraine and the Council of Europe in cooperation with the European Training Foundation held a seminar in Kyiv on “Reforms in the higher education system in Ukraine in the context of the Bologna process, the NQF for LLL and legislative changes”.
The objective of the seminar was to look into current challenges of the higher education reform process in Ukraine, in particular with regard to the development of a national qualifications framework and the preparation of the Draft Law on Higher Education in Ukraine.
A set of conclusions was adopted at the end of the seminar. [More]
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28/03/2011
Seminar on a national qualifications framework in Ukraine.
On 22-23 March the Ministry of Education and Science, Youth and Sport of Ukraine in co-operation with the Council of Europe held a seminar in Kyiv on ‘Qualifications framework in the higher education system of Ukraine: progress and challenges’.
The objective of the seminar was to share European experiences and to have a discussion on the first draft of a national qualifications framework of Ukraine.
The participants acknowledged the dynamic process of development of a national qualifications framework in Ukraine and considered this seminar as an important step in further advancing this work. A set of conclusions was adopted at the end of the seminar (English and Russian texts).
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15/03/2010
Council of Europe speaks at EURASHE conference
EURASHE – the European Association of Institutions in Higher Education – held its convention on “What has been the impact of the Bologna Process on professional higher education and its institutions?” in Budapest on 9 – 10 March. The convention allowed members to take stock of developments in the Europe Higher Education Area with particular reference to professional higher education. The Council of Europe was the main presenter at a forum aimed particularly at representatives of Central and Eastern Europe countries.
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03/03/2011
Final conference of Council of Europe/European Commission project in Bosnia and Herzegovina
The final conference of the joint Council of Europe/European Commission project “Strengthening Higher Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina” was held in Sarajevo on 3 March and gathered some 130 participants from all parts of the country. The project, which was the third of its kind and was run by Karen Roberts and Nedim Vrabac of the Council of Europe office in Sarajevo, was financed by the European Commission and focused in particular on qualifications frameworks and quality assurance. The Steering Board of the project was chaired by Esma Hadžagić, Assistant to the Minister of Civil Affairs.
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04/02/2011
The Parliamentary Assembly adopts resolution on the situation in Belarus
At its session in late January, the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly adopted Resolution 1790 (2011) on the situation in Belarus in the aftermath of the presidential election. Paragraphs 1, 7.4 and 10.3 deal with the particular situation of higher education, students and staff.
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24/02/2011
Council of Europe speaks at European Student Convention
The Council of Europe was invited to deliver the closing keynote speech at the 21st European Student Convention, organized by the European Students Union in Budapest on 15 – 18 February. In his presentation, Sjur Bergan, Head of the Council of Europe’s Department of Higher Education and History Teaching, emphasized that higher education must play a key role in helping our societies meet the major challenges we are facing. It can only do so if higher education addresses its full range of purposes: preparation for the labour market, preparation for democratic citizenship, personal development and the development of a broad and advanced knowledge base. In particular, higher education must develop competences for democratic citizenship and student representation in the governance of higher education is an important contribution. For the same reason, the Council of Europe always includes student contributions in its thematic conferences on higher education policy.
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