Higher education reform experts : activity report 2018

This report has been produced on the basis of the 2018 HERE reports received from 19 NEOs, and of a contribution from the SPHERE team concerning the international HERE activities. The introductory part is followed by country specific sections, which have been produced by the NEOs in order to present higher education developments in their country and to highlight the main achievement of their teams. The aim of these country presentations is to give visibility to the activities carried out by HEREs and NEOs at national level and to inspire colleagues in other countries when planning their HERE activities for the coming years. Despite the fact that 2018 was the year of renewal of the NEO grant agreements and coincided with changes in HERE teams in several countries, the variety and quality of activities remained at a high level. Internationalisation, quality assurance and National Qualifications Frameworks figure among the most frequent topics in local activities. The role of HEREs in supporting their national authorities in the higher education reform process continued to be considerable, as many HERE team members are involved in working groups responsible for drafting policies, strategies and legislative documents. To support the HEREs in their local activities, the SPHERE team continued to organise international training events, provided experts for Technical Assistance Missions (TAMs) and maintained the website hosting the HERE Virtual Community. The support provided by the SPHERE team is based on the following methodological principles: 1) Awareness raising about EU higher education policy and policy developments in the EHEA, and how these policies could impact Partner Countries. This approach considers that HERE have different levels of information and different starting points with regards to their knowledge, which may be a function of the countries in which they are based and their varying professional profiles. 2) Capacity building of the HERE teams to actively contribute to higher education reform at national level in their countries and at the level of organisations and higher education institutions. In addition to knowledge and information transfer on HE reforms, the role of HEREs in their respective countries and the ability of individual teams to propose and shape policy is highlighted. 3) Enhancing networking between HEREs of different countries, through a variety of regional and international activities, including through regional TAMs. 4) Peer learning approaches that allow HEREs at different levels of knowledge and experience to learn from each other. 5) Strong linkages with the Bologna Process and potential support for Bologna implementation in countries in need; 6) Strong linkages with EU education, neighbourhood and foreign relations policy.