REFORM! TUNING the Modernisation Process of Higher Education in Europe:A Blueprint for Student-Centred Learning

In 2019 the Bologna Process for the modernization of higher education in Europe celebrates its 20th anniversary. The three main objectives of this Process are the international recognition of credit points and diplomas, the implementation of a consistent three cycle structure (Bachelor, Master, Doctorate) and the creation of a quality culture and quality assurance system. All are instrumental to create a European Higher Educational Area. At present 48 countries have signed up to the Process. Earlier, exactly 30 years ago, a start was made with the development of one European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) to facilitate and ensure the recognition of study results taken at a foreign higher education institution in the framework of the ERASMUS programme launched in 1986. Without ECTS and ERASMUS it is difficult to imagine the Bologna Process. Bologna Process and ECTS lead to the project Tuning Educational Structures in Europe (2000 –), which was initiated as a grass-root initiative to offer academics a voice in the intergovernmental reform process. Both the Bologna Process and Tuning have drawn global attention. This study takes stock of these three closely related initiatives. It concludes that ECTS and TUNING – a methodology to reform individual degree programmes and a reference to determine high quality and relevant education – have over time become norm-setting globally. Although the Bologna Process has contributed considerably to the development of a single European Higher Education Area, it cannot perceived as a tremendous success. The study poses that realizing the Bologna objectives has halted due to two reasons: the lack of political will, and insufficient interaction between the actors involved and between the different decision-making and implementation levels.