AQU Catalunya presents its Strategic Plan 2023-2026
The Agency has set out to fulfil 12 strategic objectives through 34 actions over the four years during which the plan will be valid. The document was drawn up following an analysis of the findings of nine working groups comprised of Agency in-house staff as well as comments from stakeholders
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AQU Catalunya has published its Strategic Plan for the years 2023-2026. The document, which carries on from all those published since the first plan's approval in 2009, was based on a SWOT analysis of the opinions collected through surveys of people responsible for universities, external experts and Agency staff. The results have made it possible to define the plan's strategic objectives and the actions that will govern the Agency's activity throughout the four-year period currently under way. In order to reach the conclusions that have served to develop the plan for 2023-2026, nine working groups were created comprised of internal staff who debated, between October and December 2022, the different issues detected in the SWOT analysis. The document has also taken into account the reflections of the AQU Catalunya Advisory Commission collected in a meeting on 1 December 2022 and the comments of the various stakeholders.
The Strategic Plan 2023-2026 stays true to the vision, mission and values of AQU Catalunya. As one of the main objectives related to improving higher education, the plan commits to developing a framework for assessing departments, university research institutes and affiliated centres involved in research so that they can obtain the seal of excellence provided for in the Catalan Science Act. In addition, the aim is to advance in the promotion of analysis and reflection on new trends in higher education to generate knowledge for the Catalan university system.
In terms of commitment to society, the AQU Catalunya Strategic Plan 2023-2026 highlights objectives such as contributing to the roll-out of the plan to strengthen the Catalan language in the Catalan university and research system. In this area, the Agency also wants to strengthen knowledge transfer to increase the impact of AQU Catalunya activities and society’s trust in the quality of the Catalan university system.
In regard to AQU Catalunya's commitment to good governance, of particular note are objectives such as making the assessment processes for degree programmes and institutions that have external visits more efficient or increasing the efficiency and flexibility of the teaching staff accreditation processes, all the while reducing the assessment times and simplifying processing. In its commitment to partnerships, the Agency's Strategic Plan aims to contribute to the international promotion of the Catalan university system and, at the same time, to strengthen AQU Catalunya's international position in the field of degree programme assessment. One of the actions proposed for this purpose is to set the European Approach as the reference methodology for the joint international degree programmes coordinated by the universities in the Catalan university system. Finally, with regard to the commitment to employees, AQU Catalunya's main objective is to strengthen the management and consolidation of knowledge transfer and the culture of the organisation to prepare the Agency for future changes on both a national and international level.
In total, 12 strategic goals and 34 actions in the five corporate social responsibility commitments have been identified for implementation by December 2026. The aim of this new Strategic Plan is to consolidate, improve the efficiency of and reduce the timescales for the assessment procedures AQU Catalunya currently manages, while also designing and implementing new value-added activities for the Catalan university system, some of which are in line with the new responsibilities placed on the Agency.