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ACA Newsletter nr 826 June 2001
Hosted by the Norwegian Centre for International University Cooperation (SIU) on the occasion of its 10-year anniversary, this ACA member organisation and the ACA Secretariat held a conference on the theme of "The Virtual Challenge to International Cooperation in Higher Education" in Fjærland/Norway on 10-12 June. Some fifty invited leaders from ACA members, European and international agencies for internationalisation and international organisations debated if and how the onslaught of internet-based education was likely to affect the traditional patterns of university cooperation across national borders. Held in the stunning surroundings of Norways glaciers and fjords, the event was praised by all participants as an unforgettable experience, both intellectually and socially. In a serene atmosphere, high-level networking took place - and doubtlessly gave birth to many projects in days to come. The conference, the proceedings of which are going to be published in the autumn, featured Vice-Chancellor Peter Scott of Kingston University and Dr. Marijk van der Wende (CHEPS) as keynote speakers.
The ACA General Assembly, which took place in connection with the joint ACA/SIU conference in Norway, had the pleasure of welcoming four new full members into the ACA family. The new members are the Belgian/Flemish VLHORA (Vlaamse Hogescholenraad) and VL.I.R (Vlaamse Interuniversitaire Raad); the French ÉGIDE (Centre Francais pour l'Accueil et les Echanges Internationaux); and Cirius Danmark (Danish Centre for International Cooperation and Mobility in Education and Training), which replaces the former Danish ACA member RKS (Rektorkollegiets Sekretariat). ACA now counts 25 members including the associates. The secretariat welcomes the new members and is looking forward to a fruitful cooperation in the years to come!
Over two hundred northern politicians and educators formally launched the virtual "University of the Arctic" (UArctic) in Rovaniemi, Finland on 12 June 2001. UArctic is a cooperating network of universities, colleges and educational organisations in the Arctic region (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Greenland, The Faroe Islands, Russia, USA and Canada) and has been under development for the past four years. The University of the Arctic has received strong support from well respected members of the Arctic international community, including Iceland's President Olafur Grìmsson and Finland's Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen. The Swedish government recently decided to join Finland in pledging support for the planned North2north programme, which will be a part of the activities under the University of the Arctic. North2north is an initiative for the funding and support of exchange and mobility within higher education in the Arctic region. The Swedish Institute will be in charge of the Swedish participation in the programme. To read more about UArctic and North2north, see http://www.uarctic.org
Within the framework of the Youth programme, DG EAC commissioned a "Study on the State of Young People and Youth Policy in Europe" to the IARD Institute (Milan). This study is the outcome of the active collaboration between European research institutes in the 15 member states, Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland. The first section is dedicated to the conditions of youth in all 18 European countries; the second part is about youth policy in the same countries; and the last section deals with "Education and Training of Youth workers in Europe". The study identifies the main problems and challenges faced by the young generations and focus on some particular issues such us education and training, labour market, well being, health and values, organisational and political participation and the "European dimension". It contains general and national reports to each of the three above-mentioned focal points and provides some additional policy reflections and recommendations to help foster initiatives in the Youth field. The study will be presented in Brussels on 26 June and can be found as a pdf-file at http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/youth/studies/iard/iard_en.pdf
40 education ministers from 36 European countries have been invited to take part in the last big meeting of the Swedish Presidency. Latvia will host the meeting, and the theme of the meeting is ‘eLearn for life’. The focus will be on the challenges which the education system is meeting as the information society develops. There will also be a discussion on how IT can be used as a tool for lifelong learning. The main speaker will be Guillermo Kelley Salinas, Director-General of the Latin American Institute of Educational Communications (ILCE) in Mexico City. More information can be found at: http://www.eu2001.se/eu2001/calendar/other_info.asp?iEventID=414
"Multilingualism and New Learning Environments" is the title of a conference which is taking place in Berlin 28-30 June 2001. The Conference, jointly organised by the Freie Universität Berlin and the European Language Council, will be the main event of the European Year of Languages 2001 in the higher education sector. The Conference is to highlight the crucial responsibility of higher education institutions for the promotion of linguistic and cultural diversity in Europe. The Conference project is supported by the European Commission, DG for Education and Culture. ACA are among the organisations supporting the Conference, together with the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD), the European University Association (EUA), the European Association for International Education (EAIE) and the Network of Universities from the Capitals of Europe (UNICA). More info on the event can be found at http://www.sprachlabor.fu-berlin.de/eyl2001conf
OECD recently published the 2001 edition of the "Education at a Glance" report. The publication contains a number of indicators facilitating comparisons between the educational systems in different countries. The indicators provide information on the human and financial resources invested in education, on how education and learning systems operate and evolve, and on the returns to educational investments. Through the World Education Indicators programme, a wide range of non-member countries have also contributed to this year’s edition of Education at a Glance, extending the coverage of some of the indicators to almost two-thirds of the world population. For further reading, see http://www.oecd.org/els/education/ei/eag/
Netd@ys Europe 2001 will be held from 19 to 25 November 2001. The application forms for registering Netd@ys Europe projects have been available since May 2001. Applications are open to all kinds of organisations which are interested in demonstrating good educational use of online technology in the areas of youth and culture. There are three themes this year: European Youth on the Net; European Citizenship and the Internet; and European Cultural Diversity. In previous years, Netd@ys was targeted at schools. This year, Netd@ys will concentrate on "youth" issues, especially in the areas of European cultural diversity and citizenship. It will continue to promote the educational and cultural benefits of the Internet and new media for equipping European citizens with the skills which are necessary for full participation in the Information Society. For more info, see http://www.netdays2000.org
The annual SOCRATES general call for proposals should be published in
the Official Journal of the European Commission by mid-June. Call for
proposals for Joint Actions: SOCRATES, Leonardo da Vinci, Youth The
"Joint Actions" provided for in all three programmes - SOCRATES,
Leonardo da Vinci and Youth - underline their complementarity by building
bridges between them. Both calls for proposals will be available at the
following address: |
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