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International activities of the Quality Management Project

Alongside the national discussion the Quality Management Project participates in a number of international activities. For instance, the Project is an Associate of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) which, together with the European University Association (EUA), the European Association of Institutions in Higher Education (EURASHE) and the European Students’ Union (ESU), forms the so-called E4.

The E4 represent the universities, institutions of higher education, quality assurance institutions and students of the 46 Bologna signatory states. Individually or collectively they develop statements regarding the Bologna process and quality assurance, they report about progress (e.g. in the EUA’s “Trends”-report) and thus contribute considerably to the success of the creation of the European Higher Education Area.

On behalf of the Ministers the E4 have developed the “Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG)” that were accepted at the Bergen conference in 2005. The ESG have guidelines for the internal quality assurance systems at higher education institutions, for the external quality assurance of these systems as well as for the accreditation organisations.

Of special importance are the demands of the ESG that the higher education institutions “should also commit themselves explicitly to the development of a culture which recognises the importance of quality, and quality assurance, in their work” and “develop and implement a strategy for the continuous enhancement of quality”. For most of the higher education institutions this is a long road to take. The Quality Management Project would like to attend to this road.

In March 2008 the “European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education” was founded in Brussels. To be admitted, quality assurance agencies must prove that they work in general accordance with the ESG. This happens by means of an external assessment by independent experts both from home and abroad.

Furthermore, the Project cooperates with the HRK’s International Department and the DAAD in a number of activities to strengthen the quality assurance capacities in transition and developing countries.

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