Groningen Declaration Network Newsletter: Issue 1, January 2016 Newsletter Home
After the Event Feedback from Malaga, 2015
After the Event Feedback from Malaga, 4-6 May 2015
"Very satisfied with scope and breadth of topics, content and speakers."​

The Fourth GDN meeting in Málaga attracted 84 participants coming from all corners of the globe, including VIPs as Professor Dr. Adelaida de la Calle, Rector of the University of Málaga; Professor Dr. Elmer Sterken, Rector of the University of Groningen; Dr. Giuseppe Abbamonte, Director Media and Data, DG Connect, European Commission; Dr. Stéphan Vincent-Lancrin, Senior Analyst at the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI), OECD; and our two day time chairs, Peter van der Hijden, Independent Higher Education Expert, and Laura Howard, President, EAIE.

The event struck all participants by the beauty of the venue and its immediate historic surroundings, by the friendly atmosphere, the excellent food, and by the memorable social event -- a trip that took our participants to historic Granada and the Alhambra. The magical formula that made the event work may well have led one of our participants to sigh, while filling out his or her evaluation questionnaire: Can we get back to Málaga now?

To put it differently -- the event evoked a sense of belonging and of comfort with all participants.

Also, it met with widely felt satisfaction, as can be gauged from the evaluation results and from which we selected just the following three at random:​

  • The keynote speech was excellent at setting the context for the whole conference.
  • Conversations were informative and productive.
  • Very satisfied with the international scope and breadth of topics, content and speakers.

Laura Howard, President of the European Association for International Education (EAIE) and day time chair on meeting day two (Wednesday, 6 May) summarized the event as follows in this blog on the EAIE website:​

The Malaga meeting gathered 84 enthusiastic experts from 24 different countries to explore ways to work together in order to advance the common agenda, hear about pilot schemes that are already in place, and discuss ways to extend the use of digitalised student data. There were many excellent presentations, including a keynote on education data use by Dr. Stéphan Vincent-Lancrin, Senior Analyst and Project Manager at the OECD, and an intervention about electronic data from Giuseppe Abbamonte, Director for Media and Data at the European Commission – DG Connect.​

The EAIE has supported this initiative from its beginnings and, after attending the Málaga meeting, I'm confident that Digital Student Data Portability is well on its way to becoming a global reality.

Carol de Groot, chosen to report on the event, specifically highlighted the atmosphere in her Executive Summary, rendering not just the formal meetings but also the social interaction, shared concerns and ambitions: ​

The meeting was hosted by the University of Málaga and held at the Rectorado of the University. It was attended by 84 enthusiastic participants from twenty-four countries. Beginning with an opening reception on the scenic rooftop of the Rectorado, the social events encouraged circulation and set the scene for the relaxed, friendly, and open atmosphere that characterised the event... Many delegates, but particularly first-time attendees expressed their appreciation at being among like-minded colleagues who actually understand and can appreciate what they do. The atmosphere of bonding and family building responded to that very human need for feedback and appreciation, and resulted in a very strong sense of purpose. Speakers in both the opening and closing sessions remarked on the passion and enthusiasm of the attendees.

Carol de Groot was not the only one to highlight that atmosphere. ​

Anna Glass, moderator of the lively general panel session on day 1, Digital Student Data and Automatic Recognition: Uneasy bedpartners? Or a match made in heaven? contributed her personal impressions of the event and expressed the sense of commitment and engagement that pervaded the gatherings:​

Hosted by the University of Málaga in a breath-taking setting, the group brought energy and enthusiasm to what could be considered a rather routine, technical issue. Yet throughout this meeting, the human elements of curiosity, ambition, trust and communication were the drivers of every conversation about how and when digital student data could, and should, be used... The most notable element of the fourth annual GDN meeting was intangible but evident to everyone involved: the remarkable level of commitment and engagement demonstrated by all participants. While digital student data may not seem particularly enthralling to everyone, members of the GDN work in this area because, as one participant noted, "Depositories have a real function to fulfill," and "We believe that depositories and the lifelong learning concept connect with immigration policies, employers, etc... the collection of data is first and fundamental."

Victoriano Giralt introduced the Executive Summary thus:​

The pages that follow will tell you about the meeting of the Groningen Declaration Network in Málaga that, for me, was exciting for many reasons, especially that a good many people I like were coming to visit my home town and University, but also because I had the feeling that planetary forces were aligning in front of us, at just the right time. Those forces help all of us to fight a battle in a peaceful war against isolation, building bridges with the tools of education (thanks, Simone).

The reference here is to a passage from the Open Letter from Simone Ravaioli, where he evokes a vision that we like to believe found resonance with all stakeholders in the evolving GDN Digital Student Data Ecosystem​:

Education is our selected weapon of mass construction, to win the war against paper. Collectively, we are all developers of bridges and our architectural blue print is the Groningen Declaration. By giving competence recognition, we shed light onto the good we all have within, making it evermore manifest so that we can share it as digital credentials with the whole world. We signed the Declaration not to get a badge for it, but to make history together.

At the end of the meeting, Peter van der Hijden, one of our two day time chairs, and our closing key note speaker, held out a roadmap for the Groningen Declaration Network:​

The 47 Bologna Ministers for Higher Education [assembling a week after Málaga in Yerevan, Armenia, with a three person GDN delegation attending as observers] should be made aware that 'Bologna goes digital, and the Groningen people will do it for you' ... Make sure that the Groningen Declaration becomes part of the public debate on widening access to higher education, roll out a calendar for applying for projects in the European Union and do advocacy for migration policy issues, so you have something to contribute to Bologna Going Digital.

And that is exactly what we plan to do. To be continued next year, in Cape Town! ​