Enhancing Students’ Contribution to Bologna Implementation (ESCBI)
In the past few years, important steps have been made forward to the recognition of students as a key actor in higher education reform. As members of commissions on national reform such as the Bologna Follow-Up Group or quality assurance mechanisms, or also as members of governing boards of higher education institutions, they have proven to be an important factor in implementing real reforms on all levels. By integrating the student voice, the reforms have gained momentum, and increased in quality, as feedback from the classroom has increased. Our project aims at using this good experience, and building it towards the future.
Concretely, the project aims to:
- give an accurate assessment of the state of implementation of Bologna Process reforms as expounded in the London Communique, in all EU member states, as well as nearly all Bologna signatories, as felt by students.
- allow the student movement to develop a common strategy towards the reform priorities outlined by the Louvain ministerial communique’ set to be issued in 2009
- train student representatives so as to give them the capacity to actively contribute towards the implementation of reforms at a national level
- produce a comprehensive picture of the effect the Bologna Process has had on Higher Education systems, students and society since its inception. This analysis will be done from objective (what has changed?) and subjective (have systems changed for the better for students?) perspectives
As full stakeholders in the educational process, the participation of students is critical to the success of the Bologna reforms. By providing for strategy development, capacity building and the furnishing of data, ESCBI project ensures that student representatives across Europe will be able to rise to the challenges posed by the 2008-10 period, affording them the motivation and the tools necessary to carry out such tasks. Furthermore, by analysing the overall reforms induced by the Bologna Process, the ‘Bologna at the Finish Line’ survey will serve as an invaluable tool for students and policy makers alike to continue the reform agenda beyond 2010 based on evidence of the successes and failures of initiatives, policies and methodologies embarked upon so far.
With ESCBI, ESU will research the effects of the Process on students, seeing if the implementation is a success. In 2009, a version of “Bologna With Student Eyes” will be produced, which will feed into the Louvain Ministerial Conference in April 2009. This document will research the impact of the Bologna Process between 2007 and 2009 from a students’ perspective. ESU will be assisted by the Slovenian research centre CEPS to improve the methodology of data collection and enhance the accuracy of the findings of the publication. Before the Ministerial Conference, in April 2009, ESU will host a European training event for national student representatives (of which a big part will attend the Ministerial summit), to discuss the results of the survey and the upcoming Ministerial Summit within the student population.
Based on the Bologna With Student Eyes, training materials will be produced and used by the national unions of students organising the Bologna Information Days, a series of training events at the national level. This work will feed into the 2010 Ministerial summit, which ESU has applied to co-host with Austria, Hungary and the European University Association. By bringing together East and West Europe, higher education institutions and students we will show the true nature of this process and push for a rekindling of the pillars of the Bologna Process – an action agenda towards 2020. In 2010, a special survey ‘Bologna at the Finish Line’ will be developed to research the difference between the situation in 1999 and currently – how has the Bologna Process been a driver for change in this period of time? – complemented with a survey on the students’ views of the future of the Bologna Process.
Thus, the ESCBI project will empower student participation in all areas of confluence between the Bologna Process and the EU Modernisation Agenda at a key junction in its development, thus ensuring a better implementation of the Process through informed and considered engagement by its actors.
Main Results:
Training Material for Training Conference
A training package will be prepared for the training conference that is organised in April 2009. The training package will feature training modules on all the priorities of the Bologna Process, in particular the priorities set by the London Communiqué. The training package will also provide discussion articles about the future of the Bologna Process after 2010.
National Action Plans
As part of the training conference in April 2009, the national unions of students will design a national action plan for the implementation of the Bologna Process towards 2010. Student representatives will analyse the main challenges ahead for their countries, and draft an action plan how their country would be able to implement the action lines.
Bologna With Student Eyes 2009
Following the surveys in 2005 and 2007, ESU will again publish its assessment of the implementation of the Bologna Process from a students’ perspective. The survey will be based on a questionnaire, filled in by national unions of students in the Bologna member states. The questionnaire data will be cross-referenced with other major surveys on the topic and research data that is available on the topic.
Discussion Materials for Ministerial Conference
A reader for the conference will be developed, with a compilation of relevant articles about the Bologna Process in 2010, an introduction of the main speakers, the plenary and workshop sessions.
Bologna At The Finish Line
At the event in 2010, a publication will be made, presenting a transversal analysis of the effects of the Bologna Process between 1999 and 2010. It will be based on the previous editions of the Bologna With Student Eyes, complemented with a new survey on the student perspectives for the future developments of the Bologna Process as well as major data-sources developed on the topic such as the Trends survey and the official Bologna stocktaking.
Faces Of Bologna
A short documentary video of around 20 minutes will be created to give the Bologna Process a more human face. In the video, students will be interviewed about their perception of the Bologna Process and it will be attempted to visualise their modern study environment.
Project Consortium:
The National Unions of Students in Europe (ESIB) – Lead Partner
Organising Bureau of School Student Unions (OBESSU)
Vlaamse Vereniging van Studenten (VVS)
Federation des Etudiant(e)s Francophones (FEF)
Nation Union of Students in the United Kingdom (NUS-UK)
Lietuvo Studentu Sajunga (LSS)
Suomen y lioppiloskuntienliitto (SYL)ry
Bandalag Íslenskra námsmanna (BISN)
Osterreichische HochsulerInnenschaft
Univerza v Ljubljani, Pedagoška fakulteta (UL PeF) – Center za študij edukacijskih politik
Eesti Üliõpilaskondade Liit MTÜ
Kunsill Studenti Universitarji (KSU)
Unione Degli Studenti (UDU)
Project Duration: October 2008-September 2010
The project is co-financed by the EACEA – Erasmus Programme
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