European Union

Example of collaborative seminar at the Münster University of Applied Sciences. Photo by Sue Rossano

Sandra Hasanefendic and Hugo Horta

A couple of years ago, I read a sentence that stuck with me ever since: “Our world has changed but our schools have not.” It was one of the sentences from Tony Wagner’s book “The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don’t Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need–and What We Can Do About It” where he reflects on the inability of American educational systems to provide students with the skills that would make them relevant professionals of the future. Thinking globally, this is not just an American problem, educational systems around the world, even Europe, face similar hurdles. The assumption is that educational systems are not keeping up with the pace of the developments in technology, computerization of jobs, labor markets shifts, and cannot accommodate for growing socio-economic expectations of populations. So the question arises: what can educational systems do to reverse this situation, and how can they better train people thrive and add-value in turbulent and complex labor markets?

 

The role of technical and vocational  higher education

In a recent article, coauthored with Manuel Heitor, we contribute with one of many possible answers to this burning question through a comparative cross case study analysis of learning practices in technical and vocational higher education institutions in Southern (Portugal) and Western Europe (Netherlands and Germany). Technical and vocational higher education institutions are characterized by its closeness to professional fields, local society and aim to provide labor markets with a highly specialized and professional workforce. They are otherwise known as universities of applied sciences, polytechnics, hogescholen, or fachohschulen, but we settled on the name that would highlight their unique nature and specificity in the aim of the diversification discourse in higher education policy.

The findings of our article highlight an intermediary function of these institutions as providers of innovative training approaches based on collaborative problem based learning and short termed project oriented research (Hasanefendic et al., 2016). It is found that most of these institutions are promoting innovative learning approaches based on learning communities where students learn through discovery in different contexts and combinations, in learning processes jointly participated by industry experts, faculty and students. This approach highlights learning as increasingly research-based and, above all, inclusive of social and economic partners via formal and, most frequently, informal collaborative mechanisms (also see Frederik, Hasanefendic and Sijde, 2017).

 

Conditioning innovative learning approaches

Our analysis has identified three potential necessary conditions for the development of such intermediary function in technical and vocational higher education: i) the human dimension (it has always been relevant in any educational setting) (see Hasanefendic et al., 2017), particularly the specific role of human intermediaries supporting learning/research methodologies, and particularly problem based learning and experiential approaches; ii) the institutional research context necessary to facilitate highly specialized knowledge, namely, in the form of applied research units that provide a professional context adequate to foster the routines to collaborate with industry at higher levels of specialization; and iii) the external environment and funding conditions, which depend on specific local and national ecosystems and are particularly influenced by the country’s overall funding level for research and development.

 

Intermediary function as impetus for organizational growth and system diversification

Developing intermediary functions through innovative learning approaches which emphasize collaborative problem based learning activities and short-term project-oriented research can also be used as an impetus for the sustainable growth and modernization of technical and vocational higher education. For instance, emphasizing short-term project-oriented research in short-cycle education can be seen as a way to strengthen the institutional credibility of Portuguese technical and vocational higher education by engaging local external actors in training the labour force. In addition, it may stimulate institutional and programmatic diversification of higher education systems.

Our world may be changing at accelerated rates, but it seems that some educational institutions are trying to keep pace. We highlight that technical and vocational institutions are adapting to labor market turbulences and uncertainty by providing innovative and collaborative training with the objective of educating professionals of the future. Rather than downplaying their change potential with overly bureaucratic governance procedures and absence of funding and structural policies, national governments ought to encourage innovative capabilities of their educational institutions to adapt, adjust and reshuffle their training approaches to better suit the ever-changing needs of modern times.

 

 

Sandra Hasanefendic is a double doctoral degree student from the Vrije University in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and ISCTE – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL) in Portugal. She researches organizational behavior in higher education. Her focus lies on non-university higher education and responses to policy pressures regarding research and innovation in education and training. Sandra also teaches, consults and advises policymakers on issues relevant to advancement of higher education in Portugal and the Netherlands.

 

Hugo Horta is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Education of the University of Hong Kong. He authored and co-authored publications on higher education diversity, science policy, research productivity and networking, doctoral career trajectories, internationalization of higher education, and academic mobility in international peer-reviewed journals, such as Higher Education, Research in Higher Education, Management Science, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Science and Public Policy, Scientometrics, and Higher Education Policy among others. He is currently Coordinating-editor of Higher Education, a leading journal of higher education studies, and sits in the editorial boards of several journals.

 

References:

Frederik, H., Hasanefendic, S., & van der Sijde, P. (2017). Professional field in the accreditation process: examining information technology programmes at Dutch Universities of Applied Sciences. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 42 (2), 208-225.

Hasanefendic, S., Birkholz, J. M., Horta, H., & van der Sijde, P. (2017). Individuals in action: bringing about innovation in higher education. European Journal of Higher Education. Online first, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21568235.2017.1296367

Hasanefendic, S., Heitor, M., & Horta, H. (2016). Training students for new jobs: The role of technical and vocational higher education and implications for science policy in Portugal. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 113 (Part B), 328-340.

The post Training students for new jobs: Intermediary function of technical and vocational higher education appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

General : MEPs are pushing for a flexible long-term budget for the EU to enable it to successfully meet unforeseen challenges. This is reflected in new agreement between the Parliament and EU countries, which is paving the way for the EU to respond better to crises related to for example security, migration or natural disasters.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

General : MEPs are pushing for a flexible long-term budget for the EU to enable it to successfully meet unforeseen challenges. This is reflected in new agreement between the Parliament and EU countries, which is paving the way for the EU to respond better to crises related to for example security, migration or natural disasters.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

We would like to congratulate you on your election as President of Serbia, confirming the strong support you enjoy among the population of your country. This vote of confidence shows that the people of Serbia fully endorse the European path you have chosen and which will lead to EU membership. 

We wish you success in further pursuing this path by promoting the reforms associated with the ongoing accession process which will bring a better life to all citizens. Stable and functioning institutions, the rule of law, and the fight against corruption are crucial for further positive economic developments. We are confident that you will continue to promote cooperation and reconciliation in the region, essential for stability, peace and prosperity. Your determination will also be key to continue the progress in the EU facilitated Dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina. 

We would like to reiterate the European Union's full support for Serbia's European reform agenda and look forward to working with you in the future as President of Serbia.

Plenary sessions : Palm oil is extensively used in food, cosmetics and biofuels, however the unsustainable production of the cheap vegetable oil leads to deforestation, loss of nature habitats and greenhouse gas emissions. MEPS vote on 4 April on a report by Czech GUE member Kateřina Konečná calling on the European Commission to take measures to ensure among others the phasing out of palm oil in biofuels by 2020 and a single certification scheme for palm oil entering the EU market.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Plenary sessions : Palm oil is extensively used in food, cosmetics and biofuels, however the unsustainable production of the cheap vegetable oil leads to deforestation, loss of nature habitats and greenhouse gas emissions. MEPS vote on 4 April on a report by Czech GUE member Kateřina Konečná calling on the European Commission to take measures to ensure among others the phasing out of palm oil in biofuels by 2020 and a single certification scheme for palm oil entering the EU market.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

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Donald TUSK, President of the European Council, visits the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on 3 April 2017.

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Donald TUSK, President of the European Council, presents the draft negotiating guidelines on Brexit to the 27 EU leaders. 

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EU Foreign Affairs ministers meet on 3 April 2017 in Luxembourg to discuss the situation in Syria, in Libya and in Yemen.

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DRAFT REPORT on EU political relations with ASEAN
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Reinhard Bütikofer

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

I’ve just read Jon Worth’s blog post about why he’s calm about the start of the Article 50 negotiations that will most likely lead to Brexit, even if these negotiations are heading to a fight. After spending the best of my last three years researching budgeting in international organisations, including the effects of budget cuts on the EU and UN organizations, I think it’s important for the EU to do some serious contingency-planning ahead of this fight.

Here’s the sentence from Jon’s article that made me write this:

There are essentially two paths for the negotiations as I see it: towards conflict, or towards fudge. The former seems to be the more likely at the moment, with both sides shaping up for a fight over financial contributions and access to the Single Market.

I guess Jon is right, and even if the European Council President Tusk tweeted today that the “EU27 … will not pursue [a] punitive approach”, this does not mean that this will not end up in a punitive situation and a major fight.

One lesson from studying cutback management at EU-level and the budget cuts in the UN system, especially the reactions to massive cuts in UNESCO, has been that international organisations seem to avoid pre-planning for massive cuts until they are actually about to happen.

When, in 2010, the EU negotiations for the 2011 budget were at risk to break down for the first time since the 1980s, the European Commission staff had only weeks to figure out how they would handle the effective budget restrictions under the monthly emergency budgets. When the USA threatened massive budget cuts to UNESCO in case it would admit Palestine as a member in late 2011, internally no contingency plans were made not to give a sign that one could actually live with such cuts. In the EU case, everything went fine in the end, but not being prepared in the UNESCO for what was about to happen made a bad situation worse, in my view.

What’s the lesson to draw from this?

It should be part of the EU strategy – and the European Commission’s budget department is key in helping with this – to make clear that to the UK that it is ready to handle even a very painful refusal of the UK to provide its legacy contributions. Some inside the institutions may say that this will give a bad signal to the UK, but experience shows that this may not prevent the worst from happening.

It’s better the Commission and especially the member states are ready to say to the UK: “If you don’t provide your legacy contributions, you will not have access to our single market. We are prepared to make our extra contributions to stabilise the EU budget or we are ready to make painful cuts to EU spending, but are you ready to have your market access cut, too?”

For this strong hand to happen, it needs to be agreed among EU member states who would step in on the side of the  contributors with extra funds if the UK doesn’t pay, and/or who would accept budget cuts – especially in agriculture and in regional/structural spending, the largest parts of the EU budget – in case this happens.

The best thing about developing these worst case scenarios and doing the contingency planning is that, should the Article 50 process run smoothly, suffering a little from the re-arranged EU budget (because this will necessary anyway) will seem much less painful than what the contingency planning suggested. But if the cut is hard, the EU will be prepared in advance and not spend a year with budget crisis management at the same time as the new multiannual financial framework needs to be put in place during 2019 and 2020.

 

The post Why the EU should start contingency-planning for Brexit budget cuts appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

General : What does it mean to be European? It’s not just the great leaders: all people are a part of Europe's history and they have a valuable role to play in preserving this common heritage and identity of ours. Over the course of the last two months, hundreds of people have contributed to a new initiative to highlight the stories that make up our history. You can discover the result on the My House of European History website.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

General : What does it mean to be European? It’s not just the great leaders: all people are a part of Europe's history and they have a valuable role to play in preserving this common heritage and identity of ours. Over the course of the last two months, hundreds of people have contributed to a new initiative to highlight the stories that make up our history. You can discover the result on the My House of European History website.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

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The "European Union-NATO Declaration on the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP)" and the "Berlin Plus" arrangements are the basic documents for the EU-NATO strategic partnership.

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There are not many places where Beethoven’s Ode to Joy is followed by Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family”. But the European People’s Party congress is not a normal event.

The majority of Europeans have probably not heard of the EPP. Those that have may associate it with the large centre-right grouping in the EU parliament, not the broader “family” of political parties that held its congress this week in Malta. The EPP’s president, Joseph Daul, is little known even in his native France.

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EU Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries meet on 3 April 2017 in Luxembourg.

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The workshop was organised on January 26, 2017 at the initiative of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE) with the aim to highlight trends, challenges and recommendations regarding civilian and military personnel deployed in CSDP missions and operations in particular in the areas of force generation, training and the national follow-up on crimes and offences perpetrated during deployment.
Annalisa Creta is research fellow of the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies in Italy, specialised in civilian crisis management with a particular focus on training issues. Petteri Taitto is affiliated with the Laurea University of Applied Sciences in Finland as principal scientist. Alberto di Martino is full professor of criminal law at the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies in Italy.
Location : Paul-Henri Spaak 4B001
Programme
Workshop summary
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

All European Final of the European Moot Court Competition takes place at the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg on 31 March

Item 5 - US security and defence policy - Presentation by Jan Joel Andersson, Senior Analyst, EUISS
Item 6 - Japan's defence and security policy reform - Presentation by Kazuo Kodama, Ambassador of Japan to the EU
Item 9 - Presentation of the STOA Study "Cybersecurity in the CSDP - Challenges and risks for the EU" - Presentation by ENISA
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP