JEAN MONNET CONFERENCE, IN COOPERATION WITH THE SPANISH COUNCIL PRESIDENCY
"The Role of Education and Training in the New European Economy"
Madrid, CaixaForum, 25-26 January 2010
In cooperation with the Spanish Council Presidency, a high-level Jean Monnet Conference examined the crucial role of education and training as a central component of Europe's 'EU 2020' Strategy.
The Spanish Council Presidency and the European Commission have the firm intention to place education and training at the heart of a more sustainable economic model and also to reinforce the social dimension of education. In this context, a Jean Monnet Conference was devoted to the topic of "The Role of Education and Training in the New European Economy" and took place on 25-26 January 2010 at the CaixaForum in Madrid.
The Conference constituted a model of positive cooperation between the Council Presidency and the Commission. It also served as an example for the productive interaction between policy-makers and the academic community.
Spanish Minister of Education Ángel Gabilondo Pujol, State Secretary for Education and Training Eva Almunia Badia, Secretary General for Universities Marius Rubiralta and Director General for International Cooperation José Manuel Martinez Sierra participated in the event. The Commission was represented by Director General Odile Quintin and Director Jordi Curell. They were joined by approx. 170 prominent Professors from a variety of EU Member States holding a Jean Monnet Chair. Among the speakers were three former Presidents of the European Parliament, one former President of the European Court of Justice and one of the European Court of Auditors, and leading officials from the European Training Foundation, Cedefop and OECD.
Conference participants underlined the importance of having education and training at the heart of the EU 2020 Strategy to ensure a sustainable, socially equitable economic development of Europe in the longer term. The Conference also attached particular importance to (a) the need to follow up the new Strategic Framework for European cooperation in education and training adopted in 2009, and in particular its four strategic objectives; (b) the further enhancement of links between higher education institutions and the world of work; (c) the promotion of learning mobility and the free circulation of people and knowledge as part of the vision for a European Knowledge Area; and (d) the need for higher, more efficient and targeted investment in education and training at national and EU level.
Programme
Speakers profiles
Participants
Main conclusions
Presentations
KEYNOTE SPEECHES |
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Ms Odile Quintin, Director General of DG Education and Culture, European Commission |
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Mr Ángel Gabilondo Pujol, Spanish Minister of Education; President-in-office of the Council Education, Youth and Culture; former Rector at the Autónoma University of Madrid |
SESSION 1: EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN THE CONTEXT OF THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC DOWNTURN |
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Mr Fritz Breuss, Jean Monnet Chair at the Vienna University of Economics and Business; former President of ECSA-Austria |
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Mr James Wickham, Jean Monnet Chair in European Labour Market Studies and Director of the Employment Research Centre at Trinity College Dublin |
SESSION 2: ACCESS AND EQUITY IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING TO PROMOTE SOCIAL INCLUSION AND EMPLOYABILITY |
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Ms Madlen Serban, Director of the European Training Foundation in Turin |
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Mr Léonce Bekemans, Jean Monnet Chair and Coordinator of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence at Padua University; President of ECSA-Belgium |
SESSION 3: EDUCATION AND TRAINING FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP, CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION WITHIN THE MODEL OF A SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY |
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Ms Aviana Bulgarelli, Director of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) |
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Mr Dirk Van Damme, Head of the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation, OECD |
SESSION 4: THE 2020 PERSPECTIVE: EXCELLENCY CAMPUSES, INVESTING IN HUMAN CAPITAL |
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Mr José María de Areilza, Dean and Jean Monnet Chair of IE Law School at the Instituto de Empresa and Coordinator of its Centre of Excellence based in Segovia |
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Mr Jacques Pelkmans, "Jan Tinbergen Chair" for European Economics and Director for European Economic Studies at the College of Europe, Bruges |
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Mr Kestutis Krisciunas, Jean Monnet Chair, Director of the Institute of Europe and former Rector at the Kaunas University of Technology; Secretary General of the Lithuanian Universities Rectors' Conference |
SESSION 5: THE JEAN MONNET ACTION AND THE DEVELOMENT OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION STUDIES |
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Mr José Manuel Martinez Sierra, Director General at the Spanish Ministry for Education; Jean Monnet Chair at the Complutense University of Madrid |
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Ms Vlasta Kunova, Jean Monnet Chair at the University of Bratislava; President of ECSA Slovakia |
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Mr Ramon Marimón, Director of the Max Weber Postdoctoral Programme of the European University Institute; former Spanish State Secretary for Science and Technology |
