CCOOPPEERRNNIICCUUSS--GGuuiiddeelliinneess ffoorr SSuussttaaiinnaabbllee DDeevveellooppmmeenntt iinn tthhee EEuurrooppeeaann HHiigghheerr EEdduuccaattiioonn AArreeaa How to incorporate the principles of sustainable development into the Bologna Process With the support of the European Commission COPERNICUS Guidelines for Sustainable Development in the European Higher Education Area www.copernicus-campus.org Prepared by the COPERNICUS-CAMPUS Sustainability Center at the Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg (Hans-Peter Winkelmann, Chairman) and the COPERNICUS-CAMPUS University Alliance for Sustainability. “V. Preparing for 2010 Building on the achievements so far in the Bologna Process, we wish to establish a European Higher Education Area based on the principles of quality and transparency. We must cherish our rich heritage and cultural diversity in contributing to a knowledge- based society. We commit ourselves to upholding the principle of public responsibility for higher education in the context of complex modern societies. As higher education is situated at the crossroads of research, education and innovation, it is also the key to ’competitiveness. As we move closer to 2010, we undertake to ensure that higher education institutions enjoy the necessary autonomy to implement the agreed reforms, and we recognise the need for sustainable funding of institutions.” The European Higher Education Area - Achieving the Goals, Communiqué of the Conference of European Ministers Responsible for Higher Education, Bergen, 19-20 May 2005 3 The authors are responsible for the choice and presentation of the facts contained in this document and for the opinions expressed therein, which are not necessarily those of the European Commission and do not commit the Organization. Acknowledgements Special thanks go to those who participated actively in a consultation on the elaboration of the COPERNICUS Guidelines, in particular: Lars Rydén, Professor, Programme Director, The Baltic University Programme, The Secretariat at Uppsala University, Sweden; Phyllis Thompson, Deputy Director, Development Education Association, United Kingdom; Mark Warner, Environmental Project Manager, Leeds Metropolitan University, United Kingdom; Sergiy Stepanenko, Professor, Rector of Odessa State Environmental University, Ukraine; Marlies Leegwater, Ministry of Education of The Netherlands; Ian Patton, Executive Director, Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges (EAUC), United Kingdom; Jan Sadlak, Director, UNESCO-CEPES. We acknowledge also with thanks the financial support provided by the European Commission in the Socrates Programme. 4 Contents Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………… Background………………………………………………………………………………6 1. Scope of the COPERNICUS Guidelines………………………………………………7 2. Objectives of the COPERNICUS Guidelines…………………………………………9 3. The Bologna Process in the context of sustainable development…………………..10 4. Making higher education more attractive by incorporating the principles of sustainable ……………………………………………….13 5. Sustainable development to link the Bologna Process with the Lisbon Strategy…… 6. Challenges stemming from sustainable development and the Bologna Process……… 7. Recommendations related to the integration of sustainable development 5 into the Bologna Process……………………………………………………………… Recommendations for the integration of sustainable development into the degree structure (modules)……………………………………………… Recommendations for the integration of sustainable development into quality assurance……………………………………………………………21 Recommendations for the integration of sustainable development into the qualifications framework and learning ………………………22 Recommendations for the improvement of the social dimension and the attractiveness of the European Higher Education Area…………………23 Recommendations on integrating sustainable development into research and development at university ………………………………23 8. Guidelines for the incorporation of sustainable development into the Bologna Process................................................................................................25 8.1 Setting up strategic goals……………………………………………………25 8.2 Self-assessment checklist of crucial topics to be addressed by each ………………………………………………… 8.3 Five simple steps to get the implementation process …………………29 8.4 Recommendations on ministerial and national involvement.............................30 9. Initiatives taken to incorporate sustainable development into higher education…...… 10. The University Charter for Sustainable ………………………………36 Background At their last conference in Bergen in May 2005, the European Ministers responsible for Higher Education adopted the Bergen Communiqué, which makes for the first time since 1999 a strong reference that the Bologna Process for establishing a European Higher Education Area by 2010 and promoting the European system of higher education worldwide should be based on the principle of sustainable development. In the light of this decision, COPERNICUS-CAMPUS as the European university network for sustainable development, is taking up leadership in the European Higher Education Area to mobilize universities and academia around the theme of sustainability and to support higher education institutions in the implementation in relation to the Bologna Process. For that reason, COPERNICUS-CAMPUS has developed strategic guidelines for the incorporation of sustainable development into the European Higher Education Area to be presented in due time for the next conference of the European Ministers responsible for Higher Education in May 2007 in London. The elaboration of the COPERNICUS Guidelines has been supported by the European Commission under the Socrates Programme. The COPERNICUS Guidelines address the challenges higher education institutions face through striving for sustainability and should give them orientation help in implementation in connection with the Bologna Process. Further, they should ensure that 6 the establishment of the Higher Education Area by 2010 will be based on the principles of sustainable development in the Europe of knowledge. COPERNICUS-CAMPUS has always been about what universities can do to help society meet the challenges of sustainable development. The signing of the COPERNICUS University Charter for Sustainable Development in 1993 as a response to the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro marked a breakthrough in raising consciousness within the European universities about the necessity to work together to preserve the future. Since that time, the COPERNICUS-CAMPUS university network of signatories to the COPERNICUS Charter is getting incessantly broader: By now, more than 320 universities and higher education institutions from 38 countries across Europe have signed the Charter, thereby declaring that they will give sustainable development an important place in their activities. This implies that in curricula, institutional management and services to the local/regional society, a responsible balance between economic, ecological and social/cultural aspects has to be worked out. Due to this broad acceptance in daily university life, the COPERNICUS Charter constitutes today principle guidance for the majority of higher education institutions in Europe in their efforts to contribute to sustainable development. 1. Scope of the COPERNICUS Guidelines Seeing the Bologna Process against the background of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UN DESD) in a global perspective, the Bologna Process is not just an education agenda about structures, such as the degree systems, recognition and quality assurance, but there is also a very strong social and cultural dimension as well as a wider political dimension to this process. The Bologna Process does not operate in a vacuum – it has a context and a set of broader European policy issues. The Bologna Declaration stated that a Europe of Knowledge is an important factor for social and human growth. Education and educational cooperation plays a role in the development of stable, peaceful and democratic societies. Universities have been important partners in the building of transnational understanding and cooperation, thus also contributing to the European dimension of higher education. Consequently, the Bergen Communiqué of the Ministerial Conference held in Bergen in May 2005 to the Bologna Process for establishing a European Higher Education Area by 2010 and promoting the European system of higher education worldwide makes for the first time a strong reference to sustainable development. In para. 17, which describes the external dimension of the Bologna Process, it says: “European Higher Education Area should be open and attractive to the rest of 7 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 cross-border higher education. We reiterate that in international academic cooperation, academic values should ” Higher education occupies a central position in shaping the way in which future generations learn to cope with the complexities of globalization. Here, universities are called upon to teach not only the skills students need to advance successfully in the labour market, but also to nourish in their students, faculty and staff a positive attitude towards cultural diversity and to help them to understand how people can contribute to a better life in a safer world. It is essential that the European