Foresighting the HER system: some issues for EU policy

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Foresighting the HE/R system some issues for EU
policy

• Report from session 4 a new paradigm for
  relations between higher education and research

By P. Larédo
Conference, The Europe of Knowledge 2020, Liège,
25-28 April 2004
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4 long term trends

• Facing massification and increasing diversity of
  student population
• Complementing disciplinary based knowledge -
  behavioural competences learn to learn, search
  and debate - employability and context
  dependent knowledge
• The growing role of the third mission
• Accountability and the development of
  accreditation, assessment and hit parades

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Two opposite scenarios

• RIDING THE WAVE
• Knowledge economy
• Emphasis on market mechanisms
• Public intervention remedying failures and
  coping with crises

• SECOND RENAISSANCE
• Knowledge society
• Democracy and citoyens chercheurs
• Pro-active public intervention to shape the future

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Action 1 work on university differentiation
Mass tertiary education Bachelor and proximity
public service
New frontier academic research (competing
at world level)
U1
Specialised professional training research
U2
U3
An approach to University main functions, mixing
the 3 missions
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Action 2 promote core competences
A tentative definition (Fontela/Knight report)

• Reasoning appropriate to the topic and critical
  thinking
• Creativity / curiosity
• Team-working and collaboration
• Information handling
• Working across subject boundaries
• Managing projects and leading
• Ethical practice
• Dissemination
• Developing foresight

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4 main issues discussed for EC intervention

• University differentiation
• Role of core competences in training
• A European framework for supporting collaborative
  training programmes at master and PhD level
• A critical size programme of research on HE/R
  LTAC, university management and governance