Bologna Process, UN agenda and EU policies top priorities

BRUSSELS – Several important policy processes will be in the line of work at the European Students’ Union (ESU) in the upcoming months. The most obvious task, will be to prepare for the ministerial conference of the European Higher Education Area in Armenia in the spring.

“In addition to representing students in the Bologna Follow-up Group, which is preparing for the ministerial conference and the policies to be adopted, ESU is working hard on preparing the next edition of its popular publication Bologna With Student Eyes. This publication has been issued before each ministerial conference, providing a critical assessment of students’ perspectives on the implementation of the Bologna Process. It is truly one of ESU’s flagship publications highlighting all major policy developments in the field,” says Elisabeth Gehrke, ESU’s Chairperson.

Bologna With Student Eyes will act as a reference tool in addition to the standard and official implementation report prepared for the conference that explains the perspective of various education authorities in Europe.

As most students are preparing to start a new academic year in Europe, ESU is also getting ready for a busy schedule. In Brussels, the main subjects put up for debate will concern follow-ups to the ET2020 and EU2020 agendas. It will be one of ESU’s top priorities to monitor this development, as it may bring up several issues of concern to students. ESU looks forward to discussing those issues with the higher education community and European policy-makers during several upcoming events that will touch upon those processes. ESU has been invited to speak at the European Education and Training Forum hosted by the European Commission in October. Then, an event promoting equity and social cohesion in education will be hosted by the European Parliament at the end of September.

“In addition to the ongoing policy-processes at the European level, there are several issues that may affect students globally. One of them is the continuing debate on whether higher education should be included in the United Nations post-2015 development agenda. Higher education is included in the current drafts of the agenda. This is something that ESU fully supports. Access to higher education is not only an issue for Europe, but a global challenge. Education should be considered as a human right at all levels,” says Gehrke.

ESU plans to kick-start these busy months with key stakeholders in the higher education field and policy-makers on 2 September 2014 at its new office in Brussels, at Rue de l’Industrie 10. You can read more about the event in a separate article here.

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For more information, please contact:

Elisabeth Gehrke, ESU Chairperson: +32/479.591.499 // elisabeth@esu-online.org or Robert Hlynur Baldursson, ESU Communications Manager: +32/473.669.894 // robert@esu-online.org