On July 7, 2021, the final conference of the SIDERAL project (
Social and International Dimension of Education and Recognition of Acquired Learning) was held online. The conference focused on further development of policies of social inclusion and recognition of prior learning through presentation of project results and a discussion of recent developments. The conference was attended by 122 participants from 15 countries, and moderated by the project manager Ana Jerković. The participants were greeted by the Head of the Sector for the Development of Higher Education of the Ministry of Science and Education, Dijana Mandić.
The first presentation was held by the World Bank representatives Diego Ambasz and Lucia Brajković who spoke about the global impact of the pandemic on education. The topic was continued by Henriette Stober from the European University Association who pointed out that the crisis had raised awareness of the importance of universal access to education, and discussed the inclusion policies, including those within the Erasmus +programme 2021-2027. Martina Darmanin, president of the European Students’ Union, spoke about the activities of the BFUG Advisory Group on Social Dimension and presented the
Principles and Guidelines to Strengthen the Social Dimension of Higher Education in the European Higher Education Area as well as the results of a study on
Student life during and after the COVID pandemic. Saša Puzić from the Zagreb Institute for Social Research presented the study
On Underrepresented and Vulnerable Groups of Students - Contributions to Improving the Social Dimension of Higher Education in the Republic of Croatia, which contains analyses related to the social dimension of higher education in the Republic of Croatia. Đurđica Dragojević from the Ministry of Science and Education presented the development of national policies for the recognition of prior learning in higher education as one of the tools for improving the social dimension of higher education.
In the section dedicated to inclusion in education in the digital age, Ninoslav Šćukanec Schmidt from the Institute for the Development of Education Zagreb presented the long-term impact of the crisis on the youth, also pointing out to ways in which the crisis can be used as an opportunity for the social dimension. Maria Keplinger from the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research presented the Austrian response to the pandemic, with special emphasis on more intensive psychological counselling for students. Velimir Srića from the University of Zagreb Faculty of Economics spoke about changing the approach to education.in a world dominated by digital services. Martina Gaisch from the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria referred to the possibility of achieving UN’s Sustainable Development Goals on education which include a significant increase in the number of citizens who have appropriate skills for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship by 2030. Martin Unger from the Institute for Advanced Studies Vienna problematized digitalization as unsuitable for all students and courses, although he believes that every country should have a virtual university.
The conference concluded with a round table on the recognition of prior learning. Ernesto Villalba-Garcia from the European agency for lifelong learning CEDEFOP spoke about the development of a new version of the European guidelines for validation of non-formal and informal learning. Christina Paulus from the University of Vienna BOKU spoke about her own experience of working on the procedures of recognition of prior learning and stressed that in this area the key is the cooperation of higher education professionals with professionals from lifelong learning, which is often lacking. Marta Žuvić from the University of Rijeka and Mislav Balković from the University College Algebra spoke about the experience of introducing recognition of prior learning at their own universities and the importance of direct involvement and support of higher education institution administration. Finally, Michael Karpišek from EURASHE presented their recent studies on the recognition of prior learning and spoke about future European initiatives in this area.
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