Strengthening the European Dimension in Higher Education
Autor(en)
Gerhard Duda, Emmanuel Sigalas, Jousch Andris Barblan, Camelia Moraru, Paul S. Agachi, Carmen L. Pop
Preis
12,99 € (75 Seiten, PDF)
Inhalt
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The European Research Area and the European Higher Education Area: Where Do They Meet and Produce Synergies?
Both concepts, the European Higher Education Area of the Bologna process as well as the European Research Area of the European Commission, originated from the search for new visions for Europe at the turn of the millennium 1999/2000. Their national constituencies, stakeholders and layers of activity overlap partially, with research active universities being the main “intersection” in institutional terms. Nevertheless both concepts are linked in a variety of ways. Higher education institutions are receiving more and more political attention in the ERA, and research universities and research active higher education institutions are given more and more opportunities to establish themselves as indispensable key players in both arenas.
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Erasmus and the Improved Understanding of Other Europeans: Expectations and Reality
ERASMUS, one of the most successful and visible EU programmes, allows more than 200,000 European students annually to study or work in another European country. The study abroad sojourn aims to promote intra-European communication and understanding and, consequently, European integration from below. I show that ERASMUS is widely perceived as a fruitful and eye-opening experience that enriches students’ intercultural skills, but that empirical data is scarce. Based on evidence from a longitudinal survey, I test the premise that while abroad Erasmus students improve their intercultural skills and communicate effectively with other Europeans. The results offer a mixed picture. On the one hand, the sojourn helps students to improve their foreign language skills, they learn more about their host country and they find it easier to understand other Europeans following their placement. On the other, the improvement of understanding is not necessarily universal, and the majority of students still find it difficult to understand other Europeans.
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Strengthening the European Dimension
The universities, as key shapers of the region’s European future, have a high responsibility for the successful integration of the continent. Despite their common origins, universities evolved in different ways across different countries during the early modern period, but retained many structural similarities. These similarities now allow for greater commonality between systems at European level, through the additional tools and action lines of the Bologna process, while at the same time favouring increased institutional differentiation. Strengthening the European dimension is an essential element of both this commonality and differentiation, as players in the Bologna process move from comparison to compatibility to commitment.
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Europeanisation as a Strategy for Success in Implementing Bologna
A Case Study from the “Babeş-Bolyai” University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Universities face many necessary internal changes in order to create the European Higher Education Area. These include changes related to university autonomy, new forms of responsibility towards society and new forms of transparency towards stakeholders. This article presents initiatives taken by Babeş-Bolyai University (BBU), Cluj-Napoca, Romania in the process of adopting and implementing the aims and principles of the Bologna Declaration. The Europeanisation of BBU has meant internal harmonisation to ensure the coherence of the Bologna principles, while at the same time maintaining and developing the university’s profile and conserving its institutional identity. The Bologna process landmark initiatives at European level have been key elements for the specific actions that have been implemented and continue to be implemented at BBU.