During a trip to Finland in the middle of winter, I visited a school where all the students left their snow boots in the school lobby and walked around in their socks for the rest of the day. I had a similar experience in New Zealand, where barefoot students are a common sight in warmer months. In each case, the students clearly felt as comfortable in their schools as they would in their living rooms. More...
What can PISA tell us about teacher policies?
A new report published today aims to guide policy-makers in their quest for effective teacher policies by analysing data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and other OECD databases. Our report, Effective Teacher Policies: Insights from PISA, examines how the best-performing countries select, develop, evaluate and compensate teachers; how teacher sorting across schools affects the equity of education systems; and how countries can attract and retain talented candidates to the teaching profession. More...
Are Norwegian universities preparing students for a changing labour market?
In many countries, there are increasing concerns about the gap between the qualifications and skills that universities deliver, and those that the labour market demands. Employers are becoming especially vocal about this, claiming that they cannot find graduates with the skills sets they need. And as globalisation and digitalisation continue to transform economies, we can expect to see profound changes in the skills that employers demand in the future. In other words, the skills shortages of today might not be the same as those of tomorrow. More...
Trappes : Voyage au cœur d’une communauté
À 25 kilomètres de Paris, dans les Yvelines, la ville de Trappes comptabilise le plus grand nombre de départs pour la Syrie en Europe. Comment cette ville, lieu de naissance de nombreuses célébrités françaises comme Jamel Debbouze, Omar Sy, Nicolas Anelka ou encore Sofia Aram, en est-elle arrivée à ce triste record. Plus...
Steering urban sprawl
New York City has one of the highest average population densities in the world, and few other US cities share its concentrated hustle and bustle. In fact, most of them face an entirely different challenge: urban sprawl. Plus...
Governance, funding and mergers top the agenda of three USTREAM national policy dialogues
The USTREAM project has successfully completed a series of three national policy dialogue events, organised jointly with local partners in May-June 2018. Each event was tailored to the specific needs of and the current developments in the higher education sector in three host countries – Latvia, Austria and Lithuania. The events brought together major stakeholders involved in the debate on the key higher education policy issues. Presentations from the three events can be consulted on the USTREAM webpage. More...
University leaders from Europe, Canada and the US discuss the civic role of universities in a challenging context
On 1-4 July about 30 university presidents from Canada, Europe and the United States convened at the European University Institute (EUI) in Fiesole, Florence, for the 15th Transatlantic Dialogue. This event addressed the timely theme “Higher education and its communities: openness, democracy and engagement”. More...
University associations jointly propose amendments to the Horizon Europe proposal
EUA and 12 other university associations presented a series of amendments to the draft proposal of the European Commission, published on 7 June 2018, establishing the Ninth Framework Programme - Horizon Europe. In addition to the amendments submitted jointly, EUA has put forward further propositions, with a view to improving the EU research funding programme, make it simpler and enhance its efficiency. More...
Turkey: new round of dismissals in administration affects academics
EUA has expressed its concerns several times regarding the measures taken in Turkey since the attempted coup in July 2016 and continues to monitor the evolution of the political situation and its impact on the higher education sector. More...
EUA condemns violence at National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (UNAN)
In the context of an intensifying revolt against Nicaragua’s president Daniel Ortega, the European University Association (EUA) is particularly troubled by assaults launched by security forces on the campus of the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (UNAN) in Managua. Two students are reported to have been killed and several injured in these attacks. Observers state that “the Nicaraguan government [has] adopted a strategy of violent repression not seen in the country for years” (Amnesty International, 29 May 2018). More...