News archive - Commission proposes regular EU Forum for University-Business Dialogue
The European Commission presented a set of measures to develop and strengthen co-operation between universities and businesses. The measures are part of the Commission’s activities to support the Member States in their efforts to modernise their higher education systems. The Commission proposes to establish the University-Business Forum, which already convened in 2008 and 2009, as a European platform for dialogue. This platform involves higher education institutions, companies, business associations, intermediaries and public authorities. It enables and stimulates them to exchange good practice, discuss common problems and work together on possible solutions.
Co-operation between higher education and business is now widely recognised to have benefits for both sides. It stimulates knowledge transfer in both directions, leads to long-term partnerships that can open opportunities and improve returns and helps prepare students for future employment.
Examples of successful co-operation between the two sides exist throughout Europe. However, the level of co-operation remains very unequal across countries, universities and academic disciplines and the extent to which it has influenced governance and organisational cultures in both business and higher education is so far limited.
Ján Figel', the European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth said: "Closer co-operation between universities and business is a cornerstone of higher education reforms. Progress in this field is absolutely necessary. The EU Forum for University-Business Dialogue provides very concrete support to the universities and companies by encouraging them to learn from each other and by inspiring reforms on national, regional and institutional levels."
Continuing the dialogue and creating new partnerships
The Commission's plans give the EU Forum for University-Business Dialogue a reinforced structure of plenary meetings and thematic seminars, complemented by a web space to facilitate the sharing of good practice and supporting continuing discussions. It will also aim to strengthen the involvement of national and regional authorities and open up to actors from outside the EU.
Over time and based on the findings of the Forum, the Commission plans to explore new possible forms of structured partnerships between universities and businesses and to analyse to what extent these partnerships could be supported through existing EU programmes. The Commission will also investigate whether the scope of dialogue with the world of business could be extended to other sectors of education and training.
The University Business Forum
To support co-operation between universities and businesses, the Commission in 2008 launched the University-Business Forum as a European platform for dialogue between the two worlds. The first Forum meeting in February 2008 was followed by three thematic workshops during 2008. A second plenary Forum in February 2009 gathered around 400 participants who also discussed possible future directions for the Forum's work.
The forum is meant to support the modernisation of higher education in Europe. Fields of work include curricular development for better employability of graduates, the identification of skills that graduates need when entering the labour market and ways of fostering an entrepreneurial mindset among graduates, professors and researchers. It also deals with the role of universities in the development of lifelong learning, means of increasing the mobility of professors, researchers, students and company staff, and appropriate governance structures at universities.
Possible future topics include the role of university-business cooperation for regional development and the involvement of small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
To find out more:
European Commission: Education and Training: University-Business Cooperation (including full text of the Communication and accompanying Staff Working Paper):
http://ec.europa.eu/education/higher-education/doc1261_en.htm
Second University-Business Forum, 5-6 February 2009
Entry created by Elke Dall on April 3, 2009
Modified on April 3, 2009
