Mapping the next 10 years of Europe's higher education

Forty-six ministers responsible for higher education from countries across Europe met in the picturesque towns of Leuven and Louvain La Neuve in Belgium in April to sign the latest communiqué of the Bologna Process outlining their priorities in European higher education.

The Leuven summit was of particular importance - it represented a crossroads in the Bologna Process and set the tone for any developments and reforms in higher education for the next 10 years.

In terms of student mobility, ministers set themselves a target of ensuring that at least 20 per cent of the student population in the European Higher Education?Area becomes mobile by 2020. This is an ambitious target but one that can be reached if countries step up their efforts to remove barriers to mobility and further promote the concept and its benefits on a national and institutional level.

Significantly, ministers also reaffirmed the public nature of European higher education making reference to it as a public good and a public responsibility. Always a source of debate, this is an issue that took centre stage in Leuven.

Weary of the current economic climate and its potential repercussions for higher education, ministers also agreed that "in order to bring about sustainable economic recovery and development, a dynamic and flexible European higher education will strive for innovation on the basis of the integration between education and research at all levels.

"We recognise that higher education has a key role to play if we are to successfully meet the challenges we face and if we are to promote the cultural and social development of our societies. Therefore, we consider public investment in higher education of utmost priority."

Ministers also agreed that while public investment needs to remain the priority, it was important that diversified sources of funding should be given adequate attention.

The social dimension of higher education and the need to increase student numbers from among disadvantaged groups in society was also a point of consensus among ministers, with each country committing to "set targets for widening overall participation and increasing participation of under-represented groups in higher education".

In an intervention during the summit, Education Minister Dolores Cristina spoke of the importance of the Bologna Process and praised the focus given to lifelong learning - a topic that remains on ministers' agendas, with the communiqué calling on states to strengthen the partnership between all stakeholders in the sector in order to further develop lifelong learning policies.

Ms Cristina also spoke on the importance of having a clear and understandable qualifications framework at European level in order to facilitate proper and transparent recognition of qualifications.

As regards graduate employability and the emerging skill gap, ministers also agreed to ensure stronger links between higher education and business in an effort to ensure that the skills, knowledge and competencies of graduates remain relevant to the labour market.

The focus on quality assurance was also reaffirmed as an integral part of any sustainable higher education system, with ministers agreeing that excellence in all aspects can only come about with a constant focus on quality.

The National Commission for Higher Education was also represented at the summit.

The Bologna Process was initiated following the acceptance of the so-called Bologna Declaration, which was signed in Bologna on June 19, 1999, by ministers responsible for higher education from 29 European countries including Malta. In the declaration, signatory states committed to create a framework to enable close collaboration between higher education institutions and thereby increase the attractiveness of European higher education.

The actions and goals were collectively intended to culminate in the creation of the EHEA, and led to major changes and reforms in the national systems and legislation governing higher education around the continent over the past 10 years.

Today, the Bologna Process unites 46 states - including EU member states and Russia - all party to the European Cultural Convention and committed to the implementation of reforms that would see the creation of the EHEA.

The original aims of the Bologna Process have been supplemented by and built upon by communiqués issued by European ministers of education who meet every other year to review progress made and outline the priorities and the way forward in higher education for the next two years. These communiqués were issued after summits in Prague (2001), Berlin (2003), Bergen (2005), London (2007) and now Leuven/Louvain La Neuve.

At these summits the progress on implementing the Bologna Process is assessed, new priorities are set, and applications by countries wishing to join the process are approved or otherwise.

The next regular ministerial conference will be hosted by Romania in Bucharest in 2012. Until then, countries will follow up on the ministers' agreements through the so-called Bologna Follow-Up Group - a forum that brings together every member country in the Bologna Process for regular meetings in-between the ministerial summits.

Malta's progress in meeting these targets will be followed by the Malta Bologna Experts Group, which has organised events and activities aimed at informing stakeholders and the public on the developments related to the Bologna Process and will continue to do so in the coming years.

More information on the Bologna Process and the full text of the Leuven-Louvain la Neuve communiqué can be found on www.nche.gov.mt.

Dr Tabone is a National Commission for Higher Education (NCHE) secretariat officer responsible for international affairs.