Anyone who is part of the university community and who has a minimum of interest will have noticed the profound changes that are taking place, and which seem to follow two very different logics: the local and the global.
Or, to put it another way, Royal Decree 822/2021 of 28 September, establishing the organisation of university education and the quality assurance procedure, which abolishes 180 ECTS degrees, adds unnecessary bureaucratic controls and sets unattainable adaptation periods for universities and quality agencies with respect to the European principles of trust and mutual recognition that drive the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area.
In 2022, AQU Catalunya will undergo the fourth international external review of its compliance with these standards and guidelines. Passing this assessment is essential to maintain AQU Catalunya's presence on the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR). And this registration is an essential condition for agencies operating in Europe, as it promotes mutual trust in the recognition of the decisions we take in external quality assessment and, consequently, fosters mobility and the construction of the European Higher Education Area.
If the agencies listed on the EQAR are able to recognise the decisions of the processes carried out by AQU Catalunya because they trust that the processes are carried out in a responsible and rigorous manner (as is the case of the experiences of assessment according to the European Approach), how is it that the same does not happen at the state level?
This year, 2022, is a year in which the Organic Law on the University System (LOSU) is expected to be promoted, and it is an opportunity – one of the few we will have – to align local and global logics. For our part, we will continue to defend the European perspective, because it is one of the founding principles of AQU Catalunya and because it strengthens the Catalan university system within an international framework. However, as I said at the beginning, the final outcome will depend on the unity and articulation of everyone's efforts. Good luck!