Personal encounters, successful exchanges: with the Bologna Hub Peer Support project, coordinated by the DAAD, numerous universities have made valuable progress within the European Higher Education Area. A look at this special form of European support.

The Bologna reform, adopted 25 years ago, is still having an impact. “It is crucial for us to be part of the European Higher Education Area and to align ourselves with the Bologna principles,” says Dr Tetiana Konovalenko, Vice-Rector for Research at Bogdan Khmelnitsky State Pedagogical University in Melitopol. Due to the occupation of Melitopol by Russia, the university currently has to work from Zaporizhzhia, but this has not stopped the university's orientation towards the European Higher Education Area. Two digital counselling missions have recently taken place as part of the Bologna Hub Peer Support II project, which is coordinated by the DAAD.

“Great advantage of extensive personal experience”

Peer support means: help is provided by university representatives for members of other universities. The main aim is to support them in fulfilling the Bologna Key Commitments: the creation of the three-cycle study structure with Bachelor's, Master's and doctoral degrees, the cross-border recognition of academic qualifications and the implementation of quality assurance measures based on common standards and guidelines. Since 2020, around 60 universities have been advised by 26 international Bologna experts in two project phases. These experts worked in tandem, visited the respective universities or conducted the consultations digitally. “We have seen particular interest in the Bologna Hub Peer Support in Eastern Europe, for example,” reports David Akrami Flores, Head of the Policy Support Section at the Erasmus+ National Agency for EU Higher Education Cooperation. He explains: “The experts have the great advantage of extensive personal experience with the Bologna Process. This experience was directly incorporated into the consultations.”

One of these experts is Dr Oliver Vettori, who, as Dean of Accreditation and Quality Management at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, has in-depth knowledge and is also an expert in matters of recognition and curriculum development. Quality assurance, for example, was one of the central topics of Vettori's and his Georgian colleague Professor Irma Grdzelidze's consultancy work at Bogdan Khmelnitsky State Pedagogical University. “The political framework conditions at European level have recently changed significantly, particularly in the area of quality assurance,” says Vettori. “We have introduced the latest developments to the university in Melitopol.” Vettori emphasises that a process was initiated by advising the various universities. “Initially, the focus was on issues such as quality assurance and recognition, but building on this, interest in partnerships and closer cooperation with other European universities has grown over time.” Vettori emphasises that “a wide variety of ideas” were also exchanged at the major final conference of the Bologna Hub Peer Support in Athens.

Setting a European example

Tetiana Konovalenko and Rector Natalia Falko from Bogdan Khmelnitsky State Pedagogical University also took part in the conference in Athens. “In Athens, for example, we received valuable suggestions for the introduction of micro-credentials,” says the Vice-Rector Konovalenko. In general, this exchange was something special for her: “Due to the war, our university is currently working exclusively online. It was wonderful to meet in person in Athens.” Previously, Konovalenko and the Bologna experts had held in-depth discussions on issues such as quality assurance. Following on from the situation in Ukraine, institutional management was examined and the question of how to involve various stakeholders, such as students. For Tetiana Konovalenko, one thing is certain: “The Bologna Hub Peer Support has helped us as a university to survive the war so far. In the midst of a very difficult situation, we have set an example for our students that we want to continuously improve.”

“It was very touching to work with Ukrainian universities on the Bologna Hub Peer Support,” says Irma Grdzelidze from Caucasus University in Tbilisi, who, together with Oliver Vettori, was on the exchange with Tetiana Konovalenko and Natalia Falko. The university benefited from Grdzelidze's extensive Bologna expertise and, according to the Georgian professor, was “exceptionally committed to the project”. Grdzelidze looks to the future: “The University is working intensively every day on improvements, for example in quality assurance, but at the same time it is developing a broad perspective for internationalisation, which will hopefully be able to fully unfold once the war is over.”
The first steps towards the future are already being taken. Just a few weeks ago, Irma Grdzelidze welcomed her Ukrainian colleague Tetiana Konovalenko to a conference at Caucasus University in Tbilisi focusing on the “Third Mission”. The targeted integration of universities with society and business was also discussed during the Bologna Hub Peer Support. Grdzelidze says: “Numerous connections have been established as part of the Bologna Hub Peer Support project. The universities will benefit from this in the long term.”

Johannes Göbel (19 December 2024)