On 10 May, rectors of European Universities had the chance to discuss the Higher Education Package of the European Commission with Commissioner Mariya Gabriel. This kind of exchange proved not only to be very valuable for the rectors, but also for the Commission, which got direct feedback for what their work in higher education should focus on in the future.
Intense consultations have already been going on all year - as a result of those, the Higher Education Package of the European Commission stays true to the ambition of the Commission, and the feedback received was essential for this result. At its core, the Higher Education Package follows four objectives: A stronger international dimension to higher education and research, supporting universities as beacons of an European way of life, tackling twin transitions, and supporting universities as drivers of European global leadership.
Implementing the Higher Education Package
The development of European higher education is still an ongoing co-creation process - the key steps for implementation of the higher education (HE) package are to be identified at the moment. Important factors in implementing the next steps will be the European University Initiative, as well as the legal status of these university alliances, launching joint degrees as well as an European student card - these four major tasks are often referred to "flagship initiatives" by the EU.
Fruitful Discussions
The talks with Commissioner Gabriel also offered a Roundtable focussing on the four flagship initiatives and priorities of the Higher education package with rectors/presidents of various European Universities. One of the speakers there was E³UDRES² project lead Hannes Raffaseder, who emphasized the key role Universities of Applied Sciences, which unfortunately are under-represented in current set of Alliances. He also stressed the importance of twin transitions: human-centred transitions as well as a STEAM approach.
The talks with Commissioner Gabriel also offered a Roundtable focussing on the four flagship initiatives and priorities of the higher education package with rectors/presidents of various European Universities. One of the speakers was E³UDRES² project lead Hannes Raffaseder, who pointed out that the E³UDRES² Alliance fully supports the European strategy for universities and contributes to its flagship initiatives. In particular, E³UDRES² interacts with various regional stakeholders and connects them across Europe to promote promote work-based, challenge-based and research-based education. E³UDRES² supports an even stronger focus on innovation and knowledge transfer and considers more diversity and a better inclusion of all kinds of higher education institutions as a necessary precondition. Europe is globally competitive in terms of education and research, but certainly must improve the timespans from research to market, and from research to societal impact. Although Universities of Applied Sciences may play a key role tackling these challenges, they are not only underrepresented in the European Universities Initiative, but also face disadvantages in terms of funding, quality assurance and several other issues on national levels. Hannes Raffaseder also stressed the importance of a smarter, more sustainable and more resilient digital transformation. Therefore, E³UDRES² calls for a European approach to digital transformation, contributes to digital humanism, promotes human-centered digital technologies and strives for an accelerated transformation from STEM to STEAM education through the integration of art, culture and creativity into technical education and research.
Clear commitment to the European University Initiative
Mariya Gabriel used the talks to congratulate the Rectors for their excellent work, showing that European Universities are active partners in higher education policy. The meeting clearly emphasized how commited the European Commision is to the European University Initiative. A next face-to-face meeting with rectors is planned to take place in the second half of 2022.
Links
➞ Press Release by the EC: Higher Education - Deeper Transnational Cooperation
➞ European University Association: European Commission Presents Higher Education Package
