the Bologna Accord
The first steps towards an open Europe for higher learning were taken in May 1998 when France, Germany, Italy and the UK signed the Sorbonne Declaration. This declaration set out the need to remove barriers to, and develop frameworks for, teaching and learning within the EU. Fundamental to the declaration was the need to converge higher education structures and a two cycle system of undergraduate and postgraduate stages was proposed.The Bologna Declaration represents a firm commitment for higher education reform from the 29 signatory countries in June 1999, building upon the Sorbonne foundations. The agreement outlined key objectives each country would undertake by 2010 in order to achieve higher education convergence. The objectives include:
- A system of easily read and comparable degrees
- The creation of a two-cycle system of undergraduate studies, leading to an employer-recognised qualification after a minimum of three years or 180 credits, and postgraduate studies, including masters or doctorates
- The creation of a European-wide credit system with credits earned in studies or non-traditional learning paths, to promote student mobility
- The promotion of student and staff mobility
- Cooperation between QA bodies to develop comparable criteria and methodologies
- A European focus
Since the Bologna Declaration was signed there have been a number of follow on conventions discussing the reforms that need to be undertaken by the signatory countries - the Salamanca Convention (March 2001), the Goteborg Declaration (March 2001), Prague (May 2001 and saw the addition of three more countries), Berlin in September 2003 and most recently, Bergen in May 2005. In addition to these large conferences, numerous thematic groups have been established that have considered the supporting elements necessary for full implementation. As a result, voluntary actions are changing into firm commitments through the setting of objectives for the education and training systems.
While commitment to Bologna reforms is clear through the progress already made to date, a high level of awareness within all stakeholder groups (higher education institutions, students, academics, administration staff, employers and governments) is critical to fully realise the aims of creating a European higher education area. Full implementation of the Bologna objectives requires fundamental administrative, infrastructural and financial change and the signatory countries must therefore undertake educational reforms that will lead to turbulence and uncertainty in the short to medium term, between now and 2010.
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A collection of documents covering the major stages of the Bologna process are listed in our reference material section. Please note that you will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer, click here to download it.© 2005, GMAC® Bologna Project