Hedda Blog

April 16, the UK House of Commons Education and Skills Committee released a report on the Bologna Process approximately one month before hosting the next Bologna meeting in London. The Education Guardian reported that the overarching message in the report was a general concern over the European Commission (EC) increased involvement in the process. The report sends a strong message; the UK is not impressed by the increased EC involvement because it is slowing down the process and increasing the bureacracy. In addition, the UK takes a stance on ensuring that the Bologna process encourages comparable degree programs but not conformity. As the UK prepares to host the 5th Bologna Process Ministerial Summit in London on May 16-18 their position statement reads, "The UK stresses the importance of the diversity of purpose and autonomous nature of European HE and welcomes the Bologna Process objective to make European HE more attractive in a global market to help HEIs compete internationally."

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The Erasmus programme which enables many European Union undergraduate students to study in a different country for a semester is turning 20 years old this year. See the previous entry, "Notes from the 20th Celebration of the Erasmus Programme." The International Erasmus Student Network will go on a road trip around Europe in the "Erasmus Van" as a way to further promote the programme and celebrate 20 years of student exchange. The Van officially departed from Prague on March 26, 2007 and will travel through more than 20 European countries, stopping at University campuses and promoting day-long events. Click here to see if the Erasmus Van will be visiting a city near you!

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by: Leasa Weimer

Last week I attended the 20th year celebration of the European Commission (EC) Erasmus exchange programme. This was not simply a celebration, but also a forum for interested students, alumni and euro-crats to come together and discuss the achievements as well as the shortcomings of this popular EU exchange programme. Over 1 million students have participated in Erasmus and this number continues to grow. The challenge that kept resurfacing throughout the day was the need to increase financial assistance to create greater access to deserving students. Many students shared how they supplemented the monthly 150 euro grant from their own pockets. In addition, some students shared their frustration with universities not accepting/recognizing credits from other institutions, an issue that the Bologna Process aims to alleviate.

In addition, alumni shared their inspirational stories of life after Erasmus, a panel of euro-crats talked about the future of the Erasmus programme, statistics about the programme were presented and a corporate communications expert talked about the Erasmus programme and how valuable it is for career development. The highlight for me was Margot Wallström, the VP of the European Commission. She spoke eloquently on the importance of this programme for the future of the EU. She encouraged students to get involved in the discussion of the future of Europe and to continue to be an ambassador for Europe. She also spoke about how powerful cultural exchange is for Europe, not that she wants Europe to become a place of common cultures, rather a place of a common set of values. Her overarching message was that sharing culture is a powerful way to unite people and that is what Erasmus aims to do, it unites people who hold similar values of inclusiveness, solidarity and respect. To many, she is just a politician, but her words spoke volumes to my story and experiences as an Erasmus Mundus scholar.

The Erasmus Student Network (ESN) is hosting a promotional van that will visit many European campuses this spring, as well as encouraging local campus chapters to host "Erasmus Days" on their campus to promote the Erasmus exchange opportunities.

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In 1999, 29 countries signed the Bologna Declaration, a process to create an open European Higher Education area by 2010. Currently, there are 45 Bologna member countries actively working to harmonize such processes as: degree structures, credit transfer systems and quality assurance. The aim is to increase mobility and attractiveness of the European Higher Education area. The Bologna Secretariat just recently posted "procedures & requirements" outlining the admission criteria for interested countries. The deadline for applications is 31 January 2007.

Continue reading "Bologna Process CALL FOR NEW MEMBERS" »

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