Higher Education in Regional and City Development Higher Education in Regional and City Higher Education in Regional and City Development Development BASQUE COUNTRY,, SPAIN The Basque country stands out in the Spanish landscape thanks to its industrial Basque Country, strength and well-educated workforce. How can the Basque Country make the best use of skills and knowledge against a backdrop of growing competition from Spain emerging economies an ageing population? Jaana Puukka, David Charles, This publication explores a range of helpful policy measures and institutional reforms to mobilise higher education for regional development. It is part of the series José Gines Morá, Helena Nazaré of the OECD reviews of Higher Education in Regional and City Development. These reviews help mobilise higher education institutions for economic, social and cultural development of cities and regions. They analyse how the higher education system impacts upon regional and local development and bring together universities, other higher education institutions and public and private agencies to identify strategic goals and to work towards them. Basque Country, Spain CONTENTS Chapter 1. Human capital development, labour market and skills Chapter 2. Regional innovation system and universities Chapter 3. Capacity building for regional development ISBN 978-926-4-20018-0 892013021E1 Higher Education in Regional and City Development: Basque Country, Spain 2013 This work is published on the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Organisation or of the governments of its member countries. This document and any map included herein are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. ISBN 978-92-64-20018-0 (PDF) http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264200180-en Series: Higher Education in Regional and City Development ISSN 2218-3140 (online) The statistical data for Israel are supplied by and under the responsibility of the relevant Israeli authorities. The use of such data by the OECD is without prejudice to the status of the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the West Bank under the terms of international law. Photo credits: Cover © Francisco Esquer Mares. Corrigenda to OECD publications may be found on line at: www.oecd.org/publishing/corrigenda. © OECD 2013 You can copy, download or print OECD content for your own use, and you can include excerpts from OECD publications, databases and multimedia products in your own documents, presentations, blogs, websites and teaching materials, provided that suitable acknowledgment of the source and copyright owner is given. All requests for public or commercial use and translation rights should be submitted to [email protected]. Requests for permission to photocopy portions of this material for public or commercial use shall be addressed directly to the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) at [email protected] or the Centre français d'exploitation du droit de copie (CFC) at [email protected]. FOREWORD – 3 Foreword Universities and other tertiary education institutions can play a key role in human capital development and innovation systems in their cities and regions. Since 2005, the Reviews of Higher Education in Regional and City Development have been the OECD‟s tool to mobilise higher education for economic, social and cultural development of cities and regions. These reviews have analysed how the universities and tertiary education institutions as a system impacts local and regional development and have helped improve this impact in more than 30 cities and regions in over 20 countries. These reviews have examined the tertiary education institution‟s contribution to human capital and skills development; technology transfer and business innovation; social, cultural and environmental development; and regional capacity building. The review process has been designed to facilitate partnership building in cities and regions by drawing together the different tertiary education institutions and public and private agencies to identify strategic goals and work together towards them. The review of the Basque Country is the fifth review of higher education in regional and city development in Spain, following the earlier reviews of Valencia and Canary Islands in 2006, and Andalusia and Catalonia in 2010. The Basque Country has developed a reputation for its comprehensive regional policy that has strengthened the Basque industrial base through support for industry-based skills, innovation and cluster development, providing a model for European regional innovation initiatives. The Basque Government has excelled in planning, co-ordination, analysis, goals setting, prioritisation and consensus building. It has developed coherent plans for the university and the vocational education sectors and established well articulated goals. It has gained notable success in uniting the key stakeholder groups and leveraging co-operation across agencies and institutions. This review report investigates how the Basque Country and its universities and higher vocational education institutions can continue to build a more robust skills and innovation system against a backdrop of an economic crisis, ageing society and increasing global competition. HIGHER EDUCATION IN REGIONAL AND CITY DEVELOPMENT: BASQUE COUNTRY, SPAIN © OECD 2013 4 – FOREWORD It is our hope that this review will be helpful to the Basque Country and its tertiary education institutions. We also hope that the Basque experience and many good practices will provide an inspiration to other regions that want to unleash the potential of their tertiary educations institutions. HIGHER EDUCATION IN REGIONAL AND CITY DEVELOPMENT: BASQUE COUNTRY, SPAIN © OECD 2013 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS – 5 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This publication draws on interviews carried out during a week-long review visit in 2-7 September 2012, on the findings of the Basque Country‟s Self-evaluation Report and using additional information provided to the review team. The review visit was led by Jaana Puukka (OECD) the lead author of this publication. The other members of the review team were Maria Helena Nazaré, (University of Aveiro, PT), David Charles (University of Strathclyde, UK); and Jose Gines Morá (Spain). Further details about the Review Team can be found in Annex A of this report. Bonifacio Agapin and Olivia Kelley provided technical support. Rachel Linden supervised the publication process. Numerous national and regional stakeholders and representatives of the Basque University System and Higher Vocational Education System have contributed to the review of the Basque Country, by providing valuable insights, additional information and comments. The OECD would like to thank the Basque Government, particularly Basque Government President (Lehendakari), Education Minister, and Vice Minister for Universities and Research as well as representatives of Health Ministry, Industry Ministry and Employment Ministry. Our sincere thanks are also extended to the representatives of provincial governments of Gipuzkoa, Bizkaia and Araba. We are grateful to the three Basque universities – the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), University of Deusto and Mondragon University – and the Basque HVET centres, their Rectoral teams, staff and students. We are also grateful for the representatives of Ikerbasque (Basque Foundation for Science), Innobasque, CES (Economic and Social Council), Lanbide (Basque Employment Service), SPRI (Public Society for Industrial Promotion), BIC Gipuzkoa Berrilan, Euskampus Foundation, Euskoiker, Fagor, Mondragon Corporation, Confebask, AFM (Machine Tool, Conponent Parts and Tools Manufacturers' Association of Spain), IMH (Machine-Tool Institute), Tknika (Centre for Innovation in Basque Vocational Training), Basque Culinary Center, BCBL (Basque Center on HIGHER EDUCATION IN REGIONAL AND CITY DEVELOPMENT: BASQUE COUNTRY, SPAIN © OECD 2013 6 – ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Cognition, Brain and Language), CIC nanoGUNE, IK4 Research Alliance, Tecnalia and Novia Salcedo Foundation. We would also like to extend out thanks to the directing teams and students of Diocesanas, Goierri Eskola, Zubiri Manteo, Nazaret, AEG and CEBANC. HIGHER EDUCATION IN REGIONAL AND CITY DEVELOPMENT: BASQUE COUNTRY, SPAIN © OECD 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS – 7 Table of contents Foreword ............................................................................................................. 3 Acknowledgments............................................................................................... 5 List of acronyms ............................................................................................... 13 Assessment and recommendations .................................................................. 17 Chapter 1. Human capital development, labour market and skills .............. 49 Introduction .................................................................................................... 50 Achievements in human capital development ................................................ 52 Addressing the challenges of the ageing society ............................................ 58 Improving quality and relevance tertiary education ....................................... 79 Conclusions and recommendations ................................................................ 99 Annex