Mobility
"Mobility of staff, students and graduates is one of the core elements of the Bologna Process,
creating opportunities for personal growth, developing international cooperation
between individuals
and institutions, enhancing the quality of higher education
and research,
and giving substance to the European dimension".
Ministers responsible for Higher Education in the countries
participating in the Bologna Process,
London Communiqué, May 2007
Mobility is at the core of the Bologna Process
Facilitating mobility is one of the main goals to be achieved with the creation of a European Higher Education Area, as Ministers have confirmed once again at their meeting in London in May 2007 (see London Communiqué). Ministers acknowledged that a lot of obstacles still existed and reaffirmed their willingness to work for decisive progress in overcoming them.
Many challenges remain, especially with regard to the following issues:
- visas, residence and work permits;
- recognition of qualifications;
- financial incentives (including portable student loans and grants);
- pension arrangements;
- joint programmes and flexible curricula.
Initiatives to address the challenges and to promote mobility include:
- Information for international students and scholars
- Mobility Campaign "Let's Go" carried out by Education International (EI) and the European Students' Union (ESU), including validation conference, 6-7 October 2008, Lille
- Bologna Seminar "Fostering student mobility: next steps?", 29-30 May 2008, Brussels
-
Bologna Seminar
"Penalized for Being Mobile? National Pension Schemes as an Obstacle to
Mobility for Researchers in the EHEA"
, 12-13 June 2008, Berlin - French Presidency Conference on Mobility, 4-5 November 2008, Nancy
- European Union funding programmes, such as Erasmus, Erasmus Mundus and Tempus
- The European Researchers' Mobility Portal
Past activities
-
2007 Working Group Report on Social Dimension and Data on Mobility of Staff
and Students -
Bologna Seminar "Making
Bologna a Reality - Mobility of Staff and Students",
London, February 2007
-
Dutch EU Presidency Conference
"Designing policies for mobile students"
, Noordwijk, October 2004