Events

Themes Print Email this page

Themes Overview

There were five themes for the work group sessions:

1. Implementing Bologna & creating the EHEA;
2. Policies for enhancing research & innovation;
3. The responsibility of Europe’s universities in a global environment;
4. Enhancing quality and creativity;
5. European universities and their funding: diversification, transparency & good governance.

 
Download the List of working groups of the Convention.

This theme focused on key issues for the successful implementation of the Bologna reforms. Three working groups were organized. This made it possible to address both issues related to the further implementation of the Bologna reforms inside institutions, as well as to debating how universities see the European Higher Education Area developing beyond 2010, and taking account of the priorities now emerging for the London Ministerial meeting. The discussions were based to a large degree upon the results of the TRENDS V questionnaires and site visits, but also took account of the results of other university based projects and EUA’s work with the teams of Bologna Promoters. Proposed themes were as follows: 

• Meeting the challenges of employability & involving stakeholders
• Implementation in institutions: permeability/progression & mastering the tools
• Supporting students & the social dimension

To top

Over the last two years discussions on the research and innovation potential of European universities have been intensifying, closely linked to the awareness of universities’ role in enhancing the competitiveness of Europe, the development of the 7^th Framework Programme, including the establishment of the European Research Council and the plans  to establish a European Institute of Technology. EUA has devoted two of its biannual conferences to these themes, namely research strategy development in Uppsala (October 2005) and universities’ role in regional innovation (Brno, October 2006). The three subgroups under this topic focused on:

• developing institutional strategies (incl. stakeholder partnerships, reform of doctoral programmes, career structures & possibilities for early stage researchers etc.)
• university/enterprise cooperation & the promotion of innovation/the regional dimension  
• moving towards full costing of externally funded university based research – based upon the work done in relation to elaborating support rates and cost models for the FP7 Rules of Participation

To top

This theme focused on the impact on and response of European universities to various aspects of the globalisation of higher education and research. There is a growing emphasis on the global dimension both in relation to the Bologna reforms where many other world regions are showing interest in the European developments and as a component of research competitiveness. Thus, inter-institutional cooperation that has been the hallmark of Europe’s universities, becomes increasingly important in a globalised and competitive environment. For this reason, EUA has developed an international agenda, and suggests that any reflection on higher education in Europe beyond 2010 needs to consider carefully the responsibility of Europe’s universities in a global environment. Discussion in the working groups focused on:

• The role of Bologna in other regions of the world/the impact of Bologna in enhancing attractiveness of European HEIs elsewhere – policies and concrete actions from a university perspective
• Balancing competition, cooperation and solidarity at different levels, in a more differentiated and more international European HE environment

To top

This theme focused on recent developments in internal and external quality processes. The starting point of the discussion was the need to promote and enhance creativity in higher education institutions. The working groups discussed and examined how internal and external quality processes can serve to strengthen institutions in their capacity to anticipate and adapt to change, respond to public accountability demands and develop creative intellectual communities for learning and research. The groups also examined leadership or governance issues such as the role of the Rector in times of changing governance structures. The discussions built on the results of recent EUA projects and programmes such as Quality Culture, the Quality Forum, the creativity project and the Institutional Evaluation Programme that includes 37 audit visits this academic year. Proposed themes for the individual groups were:

• Improving quality/promoting a quality culture through encouraging the development of creative and autonomous universities (incl. teaching & research issues, e.g. also peer review etc..)
• Understanding European principles/guidelines for quality, consolidating external accountability
• The role of institutional leaders in a context of changing governance and funding structures (systems and individual institutions)  

To top

In the Glasgow Declaration EUA reaffirmed universities’ commitment to widening participation and lifelong learning, and to promoting quality and excellence in teaching, learning, research and innovation activities. At the same time the association underlined that universities are not sufficiently funded and cannot be expected to compete with other systems without comparable levels of funding. Institutions were encouraged to work towards diversifying their funding streams, and especially to explore combined public/private funding models while developing full economic cost models. EUA has taken forward these issues in its March 2006 Hamburg conference entitled “Funding Strong Universities: Diversification, Student Support and Good Governance ” and has also established a working group on funding that has been working “bottom up” on establishing a common institutional template to describe university income and expenditure that will be understandable across different institutional types and systems as a prelude to launching a full cost funding exercise in a sample of member institutions. Thus, this theme encompassed the following elements of discussion:

• Access and affordability, increased student participation and the relation to  tuition fees and student support systems, with discussion of affordability, social and private benefits of higher education studies as well as values and perceptions in society
• Generating sustainable revenue, in particular looking at costing activities as a necessary starting point, based on the experiences of the institutions involved in the work of the EUA financing working group, and exploring possible implications for autonomy,  leadership and management at institutional level