The ripple effects of the Bologna Process in the Asia-Pacific

The ripple effects of the Bologna Process in the Asia-Pacific
Sep 29th, 2007 by globalhighered

The Bologna Process, formally initiated in 1999, has inspired a series of
substantial albeit uneven reforms in the European higher education landscape,
leading to the emergence of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) that spans
from western Portugal to easternmost Russia. Reforms within the EHEA, and
European Commission-funded linkages schemes with various regions (including Asia
and Africa) in the world, have been generating considerable interest in various
quarters.

The formalization of an external dimension to the Bologna Process was spurred
on, in May 2005, when the Bergen Communiqué included the following statement:

The European Higher Education Area must be open and should be attractive to
other parts of the world. Our contribution to achieving education for all should
be based on the principle of sustainable development and be in accordance with
the ongoing international work on developing guidelines for quality provision of
crossborder higher education. We reiterate that in international academic
cooperation, academic values should prevail.

We see the European Higher Education Area as a partner of higher education
systems in other regions of the world, stimulating balanced student and staff
exchange and cooperation between higher education institutions. We underline the
importance of intercultural understanding and respect. We look forward to
enhancing the understanding of the Bologna Process in other continents by
sharing our experiences of reform processes with neighbouring regions. We stress
the need for dialogue on issues of mutual interest. We see the need to identify
partner regions and intensify the exchange of ideas and experiences with those
regions.

The Bergen Communiqué led to the development of a more formal 2007 strategy
document titled Looking Out: The Bologna Process in Global Setting: On the
External Dimension of the Bologna Process, from which the above quote is taken.
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