A delegation of the Swiss Higher Education Conference visited Brussels in October to engage with European associations and regional representatives.
During a time of intense discussions around the future of European research and education programmes and Switzerland’s access to these programmes, the specialised conference of the Swiss Higher Education Conference (SHK/CSHE/CSSU) visited Brussels for a two-day programme curated by SwissCore. The SHK’s specialised conference consists of the cantonal heads of offices responsible for higher education, a representative of the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education (EDK) and representatives of the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). The Brussels-bound delegation included ten cantonal heads of offices, as well as a representative of SERI and of the Swiss Agency of Accreditation and Quality Assurance (AAQ).
The delegation had an opportunity to exchange with colleagues from the Swiss Mission to the EU on the new package of bilateral agreements between Switzerland and the EU, which includes provisions for the association to, among other programmes, Horizon Europe and Erasmus+. Further sessions of the visit reflected the breadth of topics which concern the SHK in their daily work: The delegation discussed issues of research security with experts from the DAAD-KIWI office and challenges for European mobility and collaboration in higher education with the European University Foundation. A visit at the Permanent Representation of the State of Bavaria to the EU offered an opportunity to learn how other regions are engaging in Brussels. The delegation further had the opportunity to visit the European Parliament as well as to exchange with the rectors’ conference of the Wallonia-Brussels region (CRef).
As education is a competence belonging to the cantons in Switzerland, this visit was a timely opportunity to reinforce cantonal engagement in current European debates as well as their cooperation with SwissCore.
On behalf of the entire SwissCore Team, we were delighted to welcome a delegation of the SHK’s specialised conference in Brussels and look forward to welcoming them back in the near future.
On the first picture from left to right: Daniel Schönmann (Canton of Bern), Silvia Studinger (SERI), Jérémie Leuthold (Canton of Vaud), Christoph Grolimund (AAQ), Ariane Bürgin (Canton of Basel-City), Rolf Bereuter (Canton of St. Gallen), Floriane Gasser (Canton of Fribourg), Alban Frei (Canton Basel-Country), Olivier Dinichert (Canton of Aargau), Christof Widmer (Canton of Thurgau), Yves Rey (Canton of Valais), Regula Bürgi (Canton of Lucerne).