The eight Bologna Process ministerial conference and the third Bologna Policy Forum

The month of April brought new crucial developments for European (and to an extent global) higher education, with the eight Bologna Process ministerial conference and the third Bologna Policy Forum. Ministerial delegations from the 47 member states of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) met in Bucharest, Romania, on 26 and 27 April to discuss the future of this space of higher education, as well as the immediate policy priorities for the next three years. On this occasion, the ministers of education of the 47 countries signed the Bucharest Communiqué, the sixth document of this sort in the history of the Bologna Process. In addition to the communiqué, the EHEA ministers also adopted the EHEA Mobility Strategy – Mobility for better learning, a document outlining their priorities in the field of international student and staff mobility.
The Romanian Ministry of Education, Research, Youth and Sports has the honour to host the eighth Bologna Process/ EHEA Ministerial Conference and third edition of the Bologna Policy Forum, which will be held in Bucharest, Romania, on 26-27 April 2012 at the Palace of the Parliament.
The 2012 Bucharest Ministerial Conference is expected to bring together 47 European Higher Education Area ministerial delegations, the European Commission, as well as the Bologna Process consultative members and Bologna Follow-Up Group partners. The meeting will be an opportunity to take stock of progress of the Bologna Process and set out the key policy issues for the future. The EHEA ministers will jointly adopt the Bucharest Ministerial Communiqué, committing to further the Bologna goals until 2020.
The 2012 Bologna Policy Forum organised in conjunction with the Ministerial Conference is aimed to intensify policy dialogue and cooperation with partners across the world. The theme of the third Bologna Policy forum is "Beyond the Bologna process: Creating and connecting national, regional and global higher education spaces”. The Policy forum has four sub-themes, which will be addressed during the parallel sessions, namely: “Global academic mobility: Incentives and barriers, balances and imbalances”; “Global and regional approaches to quality enhancement of Higher Education”; “Public responsibility for and of HE within national and regional context”; “The contribution of Higher Education reforms to enhancing graduate employability”. This year’s edition of the Bologna Policy Forum will be finalised with the adoption of the 2012 Bologna Policy Forum Statement.
Around 100 ministerial delegations from all regions and 30 international organisations will be expected to be involved in both events.
For further information regarding the Ministerial Meetings please access the official EHEA website at the following link: www.ehea.info.
Welcome to the EHEA official website!
The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) was launched along with the Bologna Process' decade anniversary, in March 2010, during the Budapest-Vienna Ministerial Conference.
As the main objective of the Bologna Process since its inception in 1999, the EHEA was meant to ensure more comparable, compatible and coherent systems of higher education in Europe. Between 1999 - 2010, all the efforts of the Bologna Process members were targeted to creating the European Higher Education Area, that became reality with the Budapest-Vienna Declaration of March, 2010. The next decade will be aimed at consolidating the EHEA and thus the current EHEA permanent website will play a key role in this process of intense internal and external communication.
THE BOLOGNA SECRETARIAT HANDOVER CEREMONY HOSTED BY ARMENIA
Armenia will officially assume the responsibility of the Bologna Process Follow-up Group Secretariat starting from July 1, 2012. Armenia will coordinate the Bologna Secretariat until June 30, 2015. Close to this date Armenia will host the Ministerial Conference of the Bologna Process member states in the capital city of Yerevan. read more.
Council of Europe - New Recommendation on the Public Responsibility for Academic Freedom and Institutional Autonomy
On June 20, the CoE Committee of Ministers adopted Recommendation CM/Rec(2012)7 on the Public Responsibility on Academic Freedom and Institutional Autonomy. While several international texts address issues of academic freedom and institutional autonomy, this recommendation is – to our knowledge – the first to do so explicitly with a view to the role of public authorities.  The provisions of the recommendation are also considered in an Explanatory memorandum. read more.