London, May 18th, 2016
The MCO Secretary General was invited to participate in the Bologna Process Advisory Group on International Cooperation in London on May 18th 2016. Some 40 people gathered from around Europe and the Mediterranean and North Africa to share experiences of how regional dialogues could be effective in promoting developments between regions.
While many of the activities that were described were policy dialogues, there was a view that without practical partnerships and developments between institutions in different countries and regions – it would take longer for there to be policy harmonisation and greater interaction between different countries.
Two presentations which offered further substance were those on digitisation and international cooperation. One was given by ‘Future Learn’ a British-based MOOCs provider and one by ‘France Université Numérique’ a Francophone provider. Both were large providers with a significant proportion of their students outside of their home country. Their ability to develop international partnerships outside of their home country was impressive.
As the Observatory takes forward its strategic goal to become more global in its operations these insights; the relative importance of policy and practice, traditional and digital interaction and ways in which countries and regions might work more closely together and share experiences provided much food for thought. The MCO would welcome examples of innovative practice from signatories to share through this column.
Published on 25 May 2016
