Past events

This page contains information about and presentations made at various events (co-)organised by EQAR. Their content is the responsibility of the respective author(s) and does not necessarily reflect the view of EQAR.

Members' Dialogue, Granada - November 2023

"EQAR, Quo vadis?" - QA Fit Focus Group for ministries & EQAR Strategy 2024-2028

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Find out more about the topics of the Members’ Dialogue:

Members' Dialogue, Prague - December 2022

“Back to the Future” - How to embrace current and future trends without losing sight of our aims

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Members' Dialogue, online - February 2022

Topics: EQAR’s external evaluation, QA of alternative pro-viders & inclusion of micro-credential providers in DEQAR

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Find out more about the topics of the Members’ Dialogue:

Presentations held at the Members’ Dialogue:

DEQAR CONNECT Conference, online - December 2021

From Data to Policy - Linking QA and Recognition

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The online conference “From Data to Policy – Linking Quality Assurance and Recognition”, held on 6-7 December, was an event for the Bologna working structures on QA and recognition. The conference  gathered around 140 representatives of ministries of education, quality assurance agencies, ENIC NARICs and experts on higher educational policies from across the European Higher Educational Area.

The event featured presentations, posters and panel discussions by and with experts and stakeholders on the state of play of databases in higher education, the creation of interoperability between databases, the integration of DEQAR in recognition workflows and possibilities of using and merging DEQAR data for policy-making at national and European level.

Webinar on ESG Compliance (challenges & lessons learned) - October 2021

Check out the agenda and the recording of the webinar

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On 6 October 2021, more than 110 people joined our webinar “ESG Compliance: The Challenges and Lessons Learned from EQAR’s Registration Process”.

Experts in external QA discussed the findings of the report “Analysis of RC Decisions”.

Click here to go to our webpage with the recording of our webinar

10:00 Welcome by Karl Dittrich – EQAR President
10:10 Analysis of Register Committee Decisions – main findings:

  • What are the typical pitfalls in the agencies compliance with the ESG 2015?
  • Which activities are covered (or not covered) by the EQAR-registration?
  • What are the major substantive changes reported by agencies in their activities? What do these results show?

Presentation of results: Melinda Szabo and Aleksandra Zhivkovikj
Chaired by Beate Treml, Register Committee Vice-Chair

10:45 Reactions to findings – Chaired by Karl Dittrich
Discussants: Pieter-Jan Van de Velde, Kateryna Suprun, Heli Mattisen, Jakub Grodecki and Goran Đaković
11:30 Final Conclusions – Colin Tück
Lessons that we can take forward on the EQAR registration process and ESG compliance.

Members' Dialogue, online - January 2021

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The EQAR Members’ Dialogue (MD) was held online on 14 and 15 January 2021. The MD revolved around the self-evaluation process that EQAR is currently undergoing. Results of several surveys (among EHEA governments, stakeholders and QA agencies) were shared and discussed as well as how to tackle the proposed areas for improvement and possible future directions.

DEQAR Conference / Members' Dialogue in Madrid - October 2019

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The DEQAR Conference / 2019 Members’ Dialogue was held in Madrid on 7-8 October, hosted by the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), thanks to the Crue Universidades Españolas.

Speakers and presentations:

Members' Dialogue in Berlin - November 2018

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The 2018 Members’ Dialogue was held in Berlin on 27-28 November, hosted by the Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF).

Speakers and presentations:

  • Colin Tück (EQAR Director) – A short retrospective in the life of EQAR
  • Vanessa Debiais-Sainton (Head of Unit – Higher Education, European Commission) – Initiatives to boost quality assurance and recognition.
  • Jenneke Lokhoff (Senior Policy Officer, NUFFIC – Dutch organisation for internationalisation in education) – Towards automatic recognition in higher education
  • Kathryn Mathe (EQAR Secretariat) – EQAR serves as a comprehensive information tool for students and staff in higher education – Database of External Quality Assurance Results (DEQAR)
  • David Crosier (Eurydice) & Melinda Szabo (EQAR Secretariat) – Taking Stock of the EHEA Key Commitment: Compliance with the ESG and limitations found within EHEA national frameworks

Members' Dialogue/EQUIP Focus Group in Prague - 2017

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The Members’ Dialogue brings together EQAR Governmental Members, stakeholder organisations, permanent observers and statutory bodies to discuss recent policy developments in quality assurance. In 2017, exceptionally, because of the EQUIP Focus Group, not only EQAR members were invited, but also all EHEA countries that were not yet EQAR member.

The event was held in Prague at the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University on 19-20 October, hosted by the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports.

Key note:

  • Adam Tyson, Directorate-General Education and Culture, Head of Unit – European Commission Initiatives in Quality Assurance and Presentation of the Progress Report
  • Michael Lehmann, Head of Department Higher Education, Ministry of Economy, Science and Digitalisation of Sachsen-Anhalt – Changes in the Framework for Accreditation in Germany
  • Bartlomiej Banaszak,  Head of Analysis and Strategy Unit, Department of Science, Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education – The New Policy Framework for External QA in light of the New Draft Law on Higher Education and Science in Poland

Other:

  • Colin TückEQAR Director – Presentation on Approach to External QA and Other Activities by Registered Agencies
  • Anna GoverEUA – Lessons Learnt from the EQUIP Project and Key Recommendations
  • Karl DittrichEQAR President – Discussion on the EQAR Strategy 2018 – 2022

EQUIP Study Results:

  • Tia LoukkolaEQAR Executive Board, EUA – Presentation of the EQUIP Study Results
Past General Assemblies

An overview of past General Assemblies, including highlights and presentations can be found here.


Members' Dialogue in Oslo - 2016

The 2016 Members’ Dialogue was held in Oslo on 24-25 November, hosted by the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research.

Speakers and presentations:

See further:

Members' Dialogue in Sofia - 2015

The 2015 Members’ Dialogue was held in Sofia, Bulgaria hosted by the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science.

Speakers and presentations:

Knowledges Café presentations:

Members' Dialogue/RIQAA Final Conference in Palermo - 2014

The 2014 edition of the EQAR Members’ Dialogue was dedicated to discussing the final results of the RIQAA project on the cross-border recognition of quality assurance agencies’ results and decisions.

The event was hosted by the University of Palermo and took place in the beautiful historical building of “Pallazo Steri”.

Around 100 participants from over 30 different countries joined the conference and discussed levels of (international) trust and the cross-border recognition of quality assurance agencies’ results in line with the EHEA Ministers’ commitment (to ‘allow EQAR-registered agencies to perform their activities across the EHEA, while complying with national requirements’ and to ‘aim to recognise quality assurance decisions of EQAR-registered agencies on joint and double degree programmes’).

Read more about the event on the RIQQA project pages here

Seminar on Cross-Border External QA - 2014

To view photos of the event.

Download Seminar Agenda.

Day 1 – Tuesday, 29 April 2014

  • 9:00 Registration
  • 9:30 Official Opening
  • Plenary Session:
  •  Overview of cross-border QA reviews in the EHEA

Chair: Maria Kelo (EQAR, President of the Executive Board)

Speakers:

  • Eric Froment (EQAR, Chair of the Register Committee) – Policy and legal frameworks of cross-border QAA
  • Melinda Szabó (EQAR, Project Officer) – Presentation of the results from the Questionnaire for QAAs
  • 10:30 Coffee Break
  • 11:00 Plenary Session: Insight from stakeholders involved in cross-border EQA

Chair: Andrée Sursock (Senior Advisor, EUA)

Speakers:

  • 12:40 Lunch
  • 14:00 Plenary Session: A diversity of approaches in cross-border EQA

Chair: Sylvia Manning (Higher Learning Commission, USA)

Speakers:

 

  • 16:00 Coffee break
  • 16:30 Parallel sessions
  • Session I. A snapshot of cross-border EQA

Chair: Lucien Bollaert (EQAR, Vice-Chair of the Register Committee)

Speakers:

  • Session II. Simulation of a cross-border EQA

Facilitator: Melinda Szabo (EQAR, Project Officer)

  • 18:00 Day ends
  • 18:30 Guided Tour in Bayreuth
  • 20:00 Dinner

Day 2 – Wednesday, 30 April 2014

  • 9:30 Parallel sessions
  • Session I.  Simulation of a cross-border EQA

Facilitator: Allan Päll (RIQAA, Advisory Group member)

  • Session II.  A snapshot of cross-border EQA

Chair: Lucien Bollaert (EQAR, Vice-Chair of the Register Committee)

Speakers:

  • 11:00 Coffee break
  • 11:30 Plenary session –  Wrap-Up, Conclusions and Next Steps

Moderator: Colin Tück (Director, EQAR)

Parallel Session chairs

General Rapporteur: David Crosier (Education System Analyst, Eurydice)

  • 12:40 Lunch and departure
The Role of NQF's and QA in Recognition - 2013

A Peer-Learning Seminar organised by the Croation Ministry of Science, Education and Sports and EQAR in Trakošćan, Croatia on 11 December 2013.

Final Report of the Seminar

Photos of the Seminar

Programme

Presentations:

Members' Dialogue in Ghent - 2013

The 2013 Members’ Dialogue was held in Ghent, Belgium, hosted by the Flemish Department of Education and Training.

  • Agenda – Members Dialogue Ghent, 17-18 October 2013
  • Photos

Speakers and presentations:

In Line with European Developments: Austria's New QA System - 2013

The Austrian Federal Ministry of Science and Research, in cooperation with EQAR has organised a morning conference on 19 September 2013 at the Permanent Representation of Austria to the EU. The presentations addressed Austria’s new law on quality assurance, the experience of the University of Graz’ with an external evaluation by an EQAR registered agency in the context of the new law as well as stakeholders perspective on the Europe-wide policy framework on quality assurance.

Programme/Agenda

Photos

Speakers and presentations:

Members' Dialogue in Bucharest - 2012

The objectives of the 2012 Members’ Dialogue were to contribute to the
development of a strategic plan for EQAR and to consult members on the
revision of the Procedures for Applications, prepared by the Register
Committee.

The Members’ Dialogue was held in Bucharest (Romania) and hosted by the Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding in Romania (UEFISCDI).

Members' Dialogue in Vienna - 2011

The 2012 Members’ Dialogue served as an opportunity to discuss the results of the external evaluation of EQAR and to exchange ideas for the follow-up and implementation plan.

The objectives were to:

  • Serve as a unique opportunity for all those involved in EQAR’s governance, management and operation to discuss jointly and in a more informal atmosphere than in official meetings with strict agendas;
  • Discuss and reflect on the results of the external evaluation;
  • Elaborate on ideas for change and improvement as follow-up to the external evaluation.

The Members’ Dialogue was held in Vienna, Austria, hosted by the Austrian Ministry of Science and Research.

Agenda EQAR Members’ Dialogue Vienna 21-22 November 2011