EUA looks forward to Ministerial Conference in Tirana and next EHEA work programme
22 May 2024
Ahead of a meeting of Bologna Process ministers, the European University Association has outlined key considerations for the future of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA).
On 29-30 May 2024, a Ministerial Conference in Tirana, Albania, will take stock of progress made towards the vision of an innovative, inclusive and interconnected EHEA by 2030 and lay the foundations for its next working period. As the voice of Europe’s universities and an active member of the Bologna Process, EUA will join European ministers responsible for higher education and various representatives and stakeholders from the sector in Tirana.
In a pre-conference statement, the Association reaffirms its commitment to working, together with the other members of the Bologna Process, to ensure that its commonly agreed goals are achieved for the benefit of European universities, their students and staff, and wider society. The Bologna Process started 25 years ago, with the goal of establishing a European Higher Education Area. Today, the goal cannot be to merely reach the finishing line for a certain number of reforms, but to maintain and enhance a European platform for policy reform, information exchange and collaboration.
As such, the statement addresses central topics such as the implementation of the Bologna Process’ ‘key commitments’, i.e. recognition, qualifications frameworks and quality assurance and a potential revision of the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the EHEA (ESG). It also calls for better synergies between the EHEA and other European reform processes (i.e. the European Education Area (EEA) and the European Research Area (ERA), notably in the context of reforms of academic careers and the importance of including a ‘university check’ on new legislation and regulations.
In addition, EUA provides input on mobility, the Social Dimension of higher education - including student and staff wellbeing, investment in learning and teaching, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and greening, fundamental values and support for the Ukrainian higher education sector.
Read EUA’s statement in full: EUA looks forward to the Tirana Ministerial Conference and the next work programme of the European Higher Education Area
