The main purpose of the meeting is to report from AG/WG activites and to plan the work of the next period until recommendations for the BFUG have to be made. Specific attention will be given to issues that require co-ordination between specific groups.

Download the Joint Meeting Working/Advisory Groups co-chairs - Berlin 14.09.2016 - Agenda

Read more about the 2015-2018 Work programme

Draft agenda

1. Plenary session

Welcome and introduction to the meeting by the BFUG Co-chairs and Vice- chair, adoption of the agenda
Feedback from the Outgoing Co-chairs and the Vice-chair regarding the first year of the AG/WGs work

2. Parallel session (7 groups)

Internal meeting of co-chairs of each WG/AG (i.a. nomination of participants for the BFUG Board meeting on 24 October 2016)

3. Parallel session (2 groups)

Co-ordination sessions with one BFUG co-chair each

• Implementation/Non-implementation (AG 2/3/4, WG 1/2)
• New Goals (AG1/WG3)

4. Parallel sessions (varying small groups)

Discussion in bilateral / multilateral teams

5. Parallel sessions (7 Groups)

Internal meeting of co-chairs of each WG/AG with integrated coffee break

6. Plenary session, chaired by the BFUG Co-chairs and the Vice-chair

Definition of interfaces between AG/WGs, methods, mile stones, targets and/or deadlines
Recommendations and/or reports for the Ministerial Conference
Feedback

At a glance

On 14 September 2016, the Co-chairs and the Vice-chair of the BFUG met with the chairs of all the Advisory and Working Groups. The event in Berlin was kindly hosted by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (chair of AG2).

The main purpose of the meeting was to give up-to-date information from all AG/WG activities to all participants; at the same time it aimed at facilitating interaction and co-ordination across groups. The BFUG chairs offered feedback on their perception of the groups’ work during the first year. The meeting was an opportunity to provide information about actual developments (e.g. the Brexit or the forthcoming discussion of fundamental values of the EHEA).

The outgoing Dutch Co-chair confirmed the importance of an annual meeting with the AG/WG chairs to design the BFUG meetings by evaluating ideas arising from the groups’ work which have to be boosted by the BFUG itself. As the work is becoming more and more complex, information, interaction and co-ordination are crucial.

Besides the plenary sessions, the meeting catered as well for bilateral discussions between groups with related fields of the EHEA topics and internal meetings of co-chairs of each WG/AG to fine-tune their activities for the next months. The Co-chairs and the Vice-chair discussed the consequences for the groups’ work plans for the next year. Two parallel sessions have been devoted to “Implementation/Non-implementation” and “New Goals” to cater for the aims mentioned in the Yerevan Communiqué and to steer the direction of activities in the most promising direction for the next ministerial conference.

The groups have to finish their work in autumn 2017 and then to present reports and/or recommendations for the Ministerial Conference 2018. Therefore, the AG/WG should prepare these documents for the Board and BFUG meetings in autumn 2017. A third annual meeting of the Co-chairs, the Vice-chair and the chairs of the AG/WG probably will take place in connection with one of these meetings which should have a closer look at the major goals in the Ministerial Communiqué and see what groups can contribute. It might be feasible to aim at reviving the political ambitions and to define the first perspectives for the years after 2020.