Bologna Process

Name of Experts

Lewis Purser and Hanne Smidt Sodergard

Date of Visit

8-11 September 2015

Themes

Bologna Process: interdisciplinarity, learning outcomes, inter-university cooperation, internationalisation, joint and double degrees,

Objectives of the visit

An introduction to the Bologna Process by TAM experts

Format of the activity (seminar, training, etc)

Seminar

Brief description of activities conducted

2 days seminar, with presentation and discussions led by Belarus HERE representatives and 2 TAM external experts

Participants targeted 

There were c.140 participants, invited from all 55 Belarus universities. The participants were senior university leaders (vice-rectors, deans) and academics leading the educational reform processes in each university. c.60 participants from the host university, the Belarusian State Pedagogical University, were included among the participants.

Main ‘take-aways’ from the perspective of the experts

• The seminar was very well organised and attended
• There was a high quality of discussion and exchange between participants, HERE experts and TAM experts following each of the presentations and during the breaks.
• There is significant interest at key levels in Belarusian universities in the pedagogical, educational and structural reforms currently taking place across European universities.
• The Belarusian university representatives were generally in the first stages of understanding and adapting to the Bologna Process.  The basic interaction between the Bologna tools and the architecture would need to be further expanded on.
• There is a clear need for a well-planned and coordinated programme over a number of years to support Belarusian higher education to integrate successfully into the EHEA. An important part of this would be a series of seminars in Belarus and site visits to universities there by European partners, and site visits by Belarusian university groups to European universities, in order to see and participate in the implementation and application of the EHEA “on the ground” in a range of European HEI partners and contexts.