policy-making
Obnovení důvěry
Předseda Komise José Manuel Barroso přednesl před Evropským parlamentem výroční projev o stavu Unie, ve kterém nastínil strategii udržitelného růstu a zaměstnanosti.
„Unie se v současnosti nachází v doposud nejobtížnější situaci ve své historii,“ uvedl v souvislosti s pokračující hospodářskou krizí.
Je nutné provést takové změny, aby se EU stala konkurenceschopnější, vystačila s prostředky, které má k dispozici, usměrnila „nezodpovědné“ finanční trhy, vyřešila ekonomickou rozkolísanost a dokázala čelit tlaku globalizace.
Dále je nutné projevit více politické vůle a nastolit silnější politické vedení, aby byla obnovena důvěra občanů a jistota na finančních trzích.
Chce-li Evropa dosáhnout udržitelného růstu a zaměstnanosti, musí být beze zbytku realizován reformní program Komise.
Tento program obsahuje:
- Investice do výzkumu, inovací, energetické účinnosti a vzdělání – je nutné přijmout podrobný návrh.
- Propojení energetických, dopravních a digitálních sítí v Evropě
- Řešení problému nezaměstnanosti mladé generace – více podporovat stáže a učební obory a urychlit další programy EU.
Komise rovněž předloží návrh týkající se projektových dluhopisů EU, díky němuž by mohlo být investováno více peněz do infrastrukturních projektů v Evropě.
Obnova Evropské unie je v našich rukou, uzavřel předseda Komise.
Projev předsedy José Manuela Barrosa – Stav Unie 2011 
Dopis předsedy Barrosa na předsedu Evropského parlamentu Jerzy Buzek
Občané mohou do 5. října posílat své dotazy předsedovi Evropské komise. Odpoví na ně v živém rozhovoru, který bude vysílán na World View a Euronews TV.
UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education
The Institute contributes to the design and implementation of the programmes of the Organization in regard to application of information and communication technologies in education. Hence, IITE serves a specific purpose within the fields of competence of UNESCO. It is principally programme-driven, responds to both global and country needs, is a part of an operational network of UNESCO structures and supports the achievement of the strategic objectives of the Medium-Term Strategy as well as the programme priorities of UNESCO, as approved by the General Conference.
Open Educational Resources in Lithuania: State-of–the-Art, Challenges and Prospects for Development
The publication opens the series of case studies summarizing best practices in OER in non-English-speaking countries. The publication will be of help for educational decision makers and practitioners as it identifies and offers solutions to the challenges that countries usually encounter on the way of promoting open content to raise accessibility and quality of education.
Donnez votre avis sur la nouvelle stratégie numérique pour la période 2012-2020
Consultation publique pour l’élaboration du plan France Numérique 2020
Les investissements dans l’économie numérique démultiplient les gains de productivité et accroissent la compétitivité de l’ensemble des autres secteurs de l’économie. D’ici 2015, l'économie numérique génèrera 450 000 créations d’emplois. Dans cette perspective, Eric Besson a lancé une consultation publique pour l’élaboration du plan France Numérique 2020, en associant l’ensemble des acteurs de l’économie numérique. Cet espace a vocation à suivre l'avancement de cette consultation et de la mise en oeuvre du plan France Numérique 2020.
Submissions invited to OPAL Awards
The OPAL Awards for quality and innovation through open educational practices recognize outstanding achievements in OER policy, promotion and use which have resulted in the improvement of quality and innovation in educational organizations. Submissions are invited in three categories; bodies which influence policy, institutions and learning contexts.
The OPAL Awards are developed by the Open Educational Quality (OPAL) Initiative, a consortium which works to promote open educational practices – practices which support the production, use and reuse of open educational resources (OER). Open educational practices help learners, educational professionals, organizational leaders, and policy makers improve quality in higher education and adult education and training.
Winning entries
Winners and highly commended entries will be selected by juries of prominent experts and will be announced at Online Educa Berlin, Germany, 30 November – 2 December 2011. Award winners will receive a plaque and a contribution of EUR 300 to make a short film which will be shown at the awards ceremony and may be used for self-promotion. Award winners and highly commended submissions will receive significant international exposure through the OPAL Initiative website and publications, and through the networks of each of the consortium members. They will also receive a unique logo and animated graphic for self-promotion.
The deadline for submission of entries to the OPAL Awards is midnight CET on 23 October 2011.
The OPAL Awards Secretariat is hosted by the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) and the OPAL Initiative is being implemented through a consortium including UNESCO, ICDE, the European Foundation for Quality in E-Learning (EFQUEL), and a number of European universities. The Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Commission is the main funding body for this initiative, which is lead by the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany.
Modernisation and employability at heart of new higher education reform strategy
As part of Europe's strategy for jobs and growth, the European Commission has presented a reform strategy to boost graduate numbers, improve teaching quality and maximise what higher education can do to help the EU economy emerge stronger from the crisis. The strategy identifies priority areas where EU countries need to do more to achieve shared education objectives and sets out how the European Union can support their modernisation policies. EU-level initiatives will include a multi-dimensional university ranking which will better inform students about the courses which are best for them and an 'Erasmus for Masters' loan guarantee scheme for students taking a full degree course abroad.
The European Union has approximately 4,000 universities and other higher education institutions and more than 19 million students. In recent years the number and variety of higher education institutions, as well as student numbers, have substantially increased. But funding, governance structures and curricula have often failed to keep pace. Higher education is not performing well enough to provide Europe with enough people with the right kinds of skills to create jobs and growth. And worldwide, Europe's competitors, especially the emerging economies, are rapidly increasing their investment in higher education
Speaking at the launch of the strategy, the European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, Androulla Vassiliou, said: "Higher education is a powerful driver of economic growth and opens doors to better living standards and opportunities for people. It is also the best insurance against unemployment. Even so, too many graduates struggle to find jobs or quality work. We need to reform higher education – and vocational education – so that we equip our young people with the skills they need to reach their potential in terms of development and employability."
Background
Priority areas in which further reforms are needed include:
Increasing the number of graduates, attracting a broader cross-section of society into higher education, and reducing the numbers who drop out without completing their courses
Improving the quality and relevance of higher education, so curricula meet the needs of individuals, the labour market and the careers of the future, as well as stimulating and rewarding excellence in teaching and research
Providing more opportunities for students to gain additional skills through study or training abroad, and to encourage cross-border co-operation to boost higher education performance
Training more researchers to prepare the ground for the industries of tomorrow
Strengthening the links between education, research and business to promote excellence and innovation
Ensuring that funding is efficient – freeing up higher education governance and investing in quality education to match labour market needs
Many EU countries are prioritising the modernisation of their higher education systems; but the potential of European higher education institutions to contribute to Europe's prosperity and fulfil their wider role in society remains underexploited. This is why education is at the heart of the Europe 2020 strategy, which has set a target for 40% of Europe's young people to have a higher education qualification by the end of this decade (33.6% in 2010).
In July, the Commission launched its proposals for the next multiannual EU budget (2014-2020) which include substantial increases for education, training and youth (+73%), and for research (+46%), in recognition of their pivotal role in supporting growth. The reform agenda for modernising higher education will guide the spending priorities of EU programmes in support of reforms.
The Commission's reform strategy has been shaped by analyses, studies and consultations with higher education institutions, teachers, researchers, students, businesses, trade unions, governments and international bodies. It is accompanied by a Commission staff paper that examines recent developments in European higher education systems and by the study 'Modernisation of higher education in Europe: funding and the social dimension' that examines trends in funding higher education and policies for opening up access to higher education (IP/11/1037).
For more information:
MEMO/11/613 - Modernising higher education – facts and figures
MEMO/11/615 - An EU strategy for modernising higher education – Questions and Answers
Communication: EU strategy for modernising higher education:
http://ec.europa.eu/education/higher-education/doc/com0911_en.pdf
Statistics – Commission Staff Working Paper on recent developments in European higher education systems:
http://ec.europa.eu/education/higher-education/doc/wp0911_en.pdf
Eurydice study 'Modernisation of Higher Education in Europe: Funding and the Social Dimension':
http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/thematic_studies_en.php
European Commission: Higher education:
http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-policy/doc62_en.htm
The Commission's proposals for education, training and youth in the next EU budget: IP/11/85
2011 Global Education Conference, online and free
The second annual Global Education Conference, a week-long event bringing together educators and innovators from around the world, will be held Monday, November 14 through Friday, November 18, 2011. The entire conference will be broadcast online for free using the Blackboard Collaborate platform (formerly known as Elluminate/Wimba).
The Global Education Conference is a collaborative and world-wide community effort organized by the Global Education Collaborative, Classroom 2.0, and Web 2.0 Labs, and is aimed at increasing opportunities for globally-connecting education activities and initiatives. Last year’s conference featured 387 sessions and 60 keynote addresses from 62 countries with over 15,000 participant logins. Sessions will be held in multiple time zones and multiple languages over the five days, and all of last years sessions are currently archived as a standing educational resource at http://globaledcon.weebly.com/recordings.html.
The Call for Proposals for the 2011 event is now open at http://globaleducation.ning.com/page/call-for-proposals. Presenters can submit proposals for general sessions focused on one of four possible tracks: Teacher Track; Student Track; Curricular Track; and Policy and Leadership Track. Proposals should focus on ideas, projects, and initiatives that promote global understanding and collaboration. The deadline for submissions is October 15 and participants will be notified of acceptance by October 30. Keynote presentations are by invitation only.
Session proposals are to be non-commercial. Interest in commercial sponsorship or presentations should be directed to Steve Hargadon at steve@hargadon.com.
Multi-stakeholder platform for digital literacy and e-Inclusion
Europe requires educated e-citizens to ensure future competitiveness and innovation. To approach this issue, a spectrum of actions are needed: enhancing basic digital literacy and e-Inclusion among all citizens and bridging the digital divide; ensuring citizens have the right ICT skills for their jobs, through to educating and training effective, high level ICT professionals. Numerous actions are already launched by many stakeholders tackling the issues from various perspectives, including teachers, parents, trainers, carers and other key ‘gatekeepers’ of digital literacy.
This initiative is a mechanism to enhance cooperation and exchange between education and training, ICT industry and industry federations, international, national and local government, NGOs and all other relevant stakeholders. The action should include awareness-raising based on a personalized view of the benefits of ICT, access to training opportunities, policy and practice exchange, online resources underpinned by a pan-EU network of experts active in the field.
The EIT's Strategic Innovation Agenda (SIA) - Investing in Innovation beyond 2014
The European Institute of Innovation and Technology’s (EIT) Governing Board submitted the EIT’s Strategic Innovation Agenda (SIA) – Investing in Innovation beyond 2014 to Androulla Vassiliou, the European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Multilingualism on 15 June 2011. In the SIA, the Governing Board outlines the EIT’s vision for the future as an innovation impact investment institute driven by entrepreneurship. This vision underpins its proposed strategy for strengthening Europe’s innovation capacity and competitiveness.
The SIA describes how the EIT will cement its position within the EU innovation landscape by building on the successes and lessons learnt since its inception in 2008. “The EIT and our current three Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) are proving that there is a need for a new European innovation approach. We are committed to stepping up the efforts necessary to ensure Europe remains a key competitor on the global stage” says Martin Schuurmans - Chairman of the EIT Governing Board.
The EIT fosters a culture of cooperation between the actors of the knowledge triangle (business, education and research). With entrepreneurship as its key driver, the institute capitalises on Europe’s underused potential to exploit skills, technology and business innovation. The EIT was set up to serve as a role model within the EU innovation landscape: its focus on simplification and leadership could perhaps be emulated by other EU initiatives.
Entrepreneurship is the central driving force of innovation in the EIT and its KICs. By educating a new generation of entrepreneurially minded talent, the EIT and its KICs are paving the way towards a more entrepreneurial labour force and continued growth for Europe. “The SIA presents our vision for increased EIT impact through more KICs, new themes and a wider geographical coverage” states Anders Flodström - Vice Chairman of the EIT Governing Board and Chairman of the SIA Working Group. “Through the proposed new KIC themes we do not only address today’s Grand Challenges but also provide viable and sustainable solutions”, he adds.
European innovation cannot thrive on the current contribution to the KICs and cannot afford not to significantly step up its investment. Shifting from a system based on control of expenditure towards a trust-based system, focusing on outcomes and rewarding performance is perceived as “the” next major challenge for the EIT. In the years to come and through the implementation of the SIA and its increased budget request, the EIT will focus on becoming an entrepreneurially driven innovation impact investment institute.
EIT Strategic Innovation Agenda (SIA)