Brussels, 09/04/2014 (Agence Europe) - European universities must respond - both in their internal organisation and in their external relations - to the considerable challenges increasing the economic and social pressure on them. The European University Association (EUA) organised its annual conference on 3-4 April to discuss the challenges that higher education institutions in Europe must address. Over 300 university leaders attended.
In future, universities will have to integrate a student population that is ever larger and ever more diversified, which responds to the call of national and European authorities for an ever more qualified population. This situation will encourage universities to propose more flexible and diversified programmes. Several speakers underlined that, as regards the instruments used, while new technology had changed students' approach to learning, the traditional approaches continued to be particularly appreciated. The potential of ICT to improve teaching and learning is undeniable but it is not a silver bullet for resolving all the issues that universities have to tackle in order to reform with reduced budgets, they added. Massive open online courses (MOOCs), which should be expanded and multiplied, were the subject of a separate session, during which the participants shared their vision. Lastly, on the international scene, European universities are sharing similar problems with their counterparts throughout the world, leading to increased cooperation but also to ever greater competition between institutions. (IL)