Micro-credentials, quality assurance and funding for continuing education and training were the key topics that the delegation discussed during their visit.
On 4-5 May 2023, a Swiss delegation of 24 people responsible for continuing education and training from Swiss comprehensive universities, universities of applied science, universities of teacher training, together with representatives from Swissuniversities, the Cantons and the Swiss Federation for Adult Learning visited Brussels. They came to discover and discuss European perspectives on the future of continuing education and training (CET), especially in the higher education sector. This is the first time that representatives from all these different sectors and different types of educational institutions came to Brussels together on this topic.
The delegates discovered the EU landscape from the perspectives of different Brussels-based institutions with a focus on higher education and continuing education. Representatives from the European Commission (DG EMPL) brought an insight on current EU programmes and initiatives on continuing education and adult learning. They presented the European Skills Agenda, the EU approach to micro-credentials and individual learning accounts and introduced the group to the European Year of Skills. EURASHE offered an in-depth discussion on micro-credentials and quality development in the context of the Bologna process. Further, the delegation discovered the European university alliances, the funding provided by Erasmus+ for continuing and adult education, and discussed the blurring lines between higher continuing education and adult learning in the context of micro-credentials and the upskilling topic. On the occasion of the delegation visit, the group also went to the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) campus and met with their continuing education team for workshops. This peer-learning activity proved very fruitful, especially as the systems are very different while the challenges are similar.
The programme was organised by SwissCore, in collaboration with the Higher Education Management Association (HEM) and Swissuni, the association for continuing higher education in Switzerland, and Swiss higher education representatives.