The ENIC network celebrates its 30th anniversary this year! It has come a long way and has grown stronger. Can you share some of the network’s most notable achievements over the past few years?
We can share 3 ‘success stories’ of the ENIC network. The first is the story of cooperation: started in 1994, it was created merging the two previous networks of NEICs and NIB of Council of Europe (CoE) and UNESCO, to avoid replication and join efforts. Since then, ENIC centres have been central in the discussion about the theory and practice of recognition in Europe, and in the drafting of the Lisbon Recognition Convention, the legal framework for recognition in Europe; they have created a network of trust, in which professionals cooperate in exchanging information and contributing to solve recognition problems, and have supported academic mobility navigating macro-trends such as the growth in student mobility and the link between higher education in Western and Eastern Europe in the 90s, contributing to building Europe as we know it today.
Secondly, supporting recognition of refugee qualifications has always been a commitment of the network. In line with the Article 7 of the Lisbon Recognition Convention, ENIC centres have worked on the enforcement of legal provision, developments and implementation of tools, instruments and practices to support recognition of qualifications held by refugees even in cases of missing documentation. The 2017 Recommendation on Recognition of Qualifications Held by Refugees, Displaced Persons and Persons in a Refugee-like Situation adopted by the Lisbon Recognition Convention Committee and its role in piloting and implementing instruments such as the European Qualification Passport for Refugees (EQPR) led by the Council of Europe are two examples of this effort to mitigate one of the barriers that refugees experience in accessing higher education.
Furthermore, a third ‘success story’ is the commitment toward quality education, cooperating in countering fraud in education. In their 30 years of history centres have exchanged information and advice, developed training and capacity building, mapped and studied the phenomenon, contributing to prevent, mitigate and counter fraudulent institutions such as diploma mills and accreditation mills and to detect fraudulent qualifications. ENIC centres also contribute on this topic to the work of the platform of the CoE on Ethics, Transparency and Integrity in education (ETINED), and support the implementation of the recent CoE Recommendation on countering education fraud adopted in 2022.
How does the ENIC network work with its counterpart, the NARIC network, can you discuss any other recent or upcoming international collaborations that ENIC is involved in?
The ENIC and the NARIC Networks are both part of the same history of cooperation and trust we referred to before. The NARIC network was born in 1984 due to an initiative of the European Commission (at that time the ‘Commission of European Communities’) with the vision to contribute towards building the ‘Europe of citizens’. As a matter of fact, both networks represent a joint, unique community of practice of professionals working in the recognition field, sharing experiences and knowledge on a daily basis, thanks to the common language and understanding built over time among the institutions who are part of them. The joint governance through the ENIC Bureau and the NARIC advisory Board, and the annual ENIC-NARIC Joint Meeting allow such an intertwined cooperation to be very concrete in some specific areas of cooperation. Let’s take the example of the refugees’ rights to access to education: ENIC and NARIC Networks’ cooperation is made tangible through some specific Erasmus+ projects which aim at fostering capacity building and the exchange of information and tools. The same applies for instance to the work on the topic of automatic recognition and fraud in education.
Speaking about the impact of AI and technology, what role do you see for digital credentials and blockchain in the future of recognition of qualifications?
For the ENIC Network, AI and digitalization are – and it is no surprise – high on the recognition agenda. While dialogue is still progressing, we can already highlight 3 aspects. First, AI should support fair recognition, facilitating and supporting the work of credential evaluators, but process simplification should always be in line with ethical aspects and the respect of human rights. The CoE’s Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and human rights, democracy and the rule of law, on the one side, and the EU AI Act, on the other – guarantee the combination between a human-rights-based approach and a risk-based approach, which support recognition professionals in the outcomes, considering both the opportunities and challenges of AI application in the field.
The second aspect is related to the importance of data and of recognition workflow management. Lack of fully digitalized workflow, fragmented collection of data, lack of clear data management could hinder the exploration of the potential use of AI.
Third, AI literacy skills, knowledge of key regulatory frameworks at national and international level and of ethical implications in the use of AI in recognition seems to emerge as a relevant set of knowledge and skills for credential evaluators. In this sense, training, capacity building and exchange of information among ENICs can support the quality of the recognition process.
Looking ahead, what are the strategic priorities for ENIC over the next five years?
One priority is supporting fairness, equity and efficiency of the recognition process in a fast-changing context, safeguarding the right of individuals to have their qualifications fairly assessed in a timely fashion. Linked to this, there is the concept and practice of automatic recognition, and the support of its sound implementation in all the ENIC countries. Another priority is to support the work on Transnational Education, to ensure the quality of education and of the recognition process. A crucial role will be played by cooperation with the other regions of the world through their regional Networks of National Information Centres (already existing in Asia-Pacific, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean regions), to build a more globally wide community of practice. In this perspective, increased exchange of information and involvement of Higher education institutions and students in supporting a recognition culture at the service of quality education is a key goal.
