Elia Artschools

Dear members, colleagues and friends,

We are approaching the and of June and many of us are at or near to the end of another busy and at times exhausting academic session, no doubt looking forward to what seems to be an even shorter summer holiday break each year.

Of course ELIA has a busy programme all year round and will be working hard in the next few weeks and months along with member institutions to deliver the Teachers Academy in Brighton and the Leadership Symposium in Hong Kong in December. These are high profile projects which you can find out more about them on the website and I look forward to meeting many of you at one or other of these events.

Equally work goes on a wide range of continuing and new projects and we continually look for new opportunities for supporting the key objectives of the organisation in promoting and representing the importance and value of Higher Arts Education and of our members. Central to our work is the contribution made by ELIA members both in terms of participating in projects, being host or lead partners and most importantly in providing a financial cornerstone through membership fees to allow ELIA to continue to develop new projects and improve its overall services.

There is a clear message here... >>Read more

In the General Assembly meeting 28 April 2007 in Tallinn the Annual Accounts 2006 were received by the members
In the General Assembly meeting 28 April 2007 in Tallinn the Four Year Development Plan was received by the members

If wish to have a summary of both the documents please send an email to .

ELIA is a membership organization and as members we are all responsible for seeing to it that there is sufficient financing for our Activities. As competition for grants and sponsor income gets increasingly fierce, membership income becomes especially important in order to provide continuity of services. I am happy to report that 76% of our membership has paid its fees as of June 20th.

That does leave 82 members who have not yet made payment for 2007. ELIA is greatly appreciative of the effort made by so many members to pay their fees in the first months of the year. We urge those members who have not yet paid to do so in the next two weeks, or, should this not be possible, to inform John Ricker at the Executive office of when the payment for your 2007 fee can be expected.

In the coming months the Executive Group and the Representative Board will examine our policy on membership with the intention of creating a new, more reliable system for securing this essential source of (self)financing.

ELIA’s 3rd biennial Teachers’ Academy will be held 11-14 July, hosted by the University of Brighton at their Grand Parade campus. The aim of this event is to contribute to professional staff development for teachers in higher arts education institutions in an international setting. Previous ELIA Teachers' Academies have been held in Barcelona (2003) and Rotterdam (2005).

The programme has been finalised and is available – including session abstracts – at www.eliateachersacademy.org. Registration for the event is still possible at the Teachers' Academy website, although space is limited.

Please contact with any questions.

The registration brochure for ELIA’s 3rd biennial Leadership Symposium, to be hosted by the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts from 4-7 December, has been sent out to all ELIA member schools and copies are still available upon request.

The Leadership Symposium brings together leaders in higher arts education from around the world. The event aims to engage senior level managers and decision-makers in key themes and current debates in cultural management and leadership in arts education, and to confront issues in ways that promote new perspectives, solutions and strategic alliances.

More information – including the application form and programme details – are now available on the symposium website www.elialeadershipsymposium.org . Please contact with any questions.

ELIA is currently developing the structure and programme of our 10th Biennial Conference which will be hosted by the University of Göteborg, Sweden. Details about the Biennial will be made available on the ELIA website as the event takes shape. The first announcement of the Biennial Conference will be given to all delegates of the Teachers’ Academy in Brighton and will be sent to all member schools in the early autumn.

Please contact with any questions.

The venue for the project is a four-star hotel in the centre of Brussels. Selected young contemporary artists will be asked to create an original mural painting on the wall behind the bed of one of 300 selected guest rooms. The project participants will be students, graduates and post-graduates of the most renowned art schools in 27 countries of the European Union and of the EFTA (Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein).

The artist is asked to create a mural painting of approximately 5.40 m x 2.50 m capturing the selected theme and concept which is BLOOM!

There is a lot to gain for the student. He or she will get all costs (including subsistence, travel, hotel) reimbursed. Furthermore, the student, graduate or post-graduate will receive a fee of 750-1250 EUR, he or she will be mentioned in a publication with all the paintings and their names will be mentioned on a card in the room next to their art work!
>> Read more

New European Commission policy document on ‘A European Agenda for culture in a globalising world’
In May 2007 the European Commission adopted a ‘Communication on Culture’ developing three sets of objectives: promotion of cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue; promotion of culture as a catalyst for creativity in the framework of Lisbon Strategy for growth and jobs; and promotion of culture as a vital element in the Union's international relations. The European Commission also suggests establishing new partnerships and methods for cooperation with the various stakeholders, in particular the member states, also associating the civil society and the European Parliament. Even though culture is, and will remain, primarily a responsibility of the member states The European Commission seeks to integrate culture in all European policy areas, for instance foreign affairs and the Structural Funds and to promote creativity in formal and informal education It also seeks and is committed to pursue a structured dialogue with the cultural sector with an input in the policy-making process, follow-up and evaluation. The purpose of the Communication is ambitious stating that culture is an indispensable feature to achieve the EU’s strategic objectives but proposes few concrete initiatives.

In the Communication the ‘2009 European Year of Creativity and Innovation’ through Education and Culture is announced.
If you need more information on the Communication, the 2009 Year or have suggestions please contact who is involved in the consultation process on behalf of ELIA.

Download the Communication text here.

Invitation to Portuguese, Spanish and French art schools in all arts disciplines

Quality Enhancement in the Arts in a European context
Inter}artes workshop, Porto, Portugal
Thursday 20 and Friday 21 September 2007

The workshop will be held at the Escola Superior de Música e das Artes do Espectáculo, Porto, Portugal.

The workshop will introduce and discuss the approach to external quality reviews developed and tested in various on-site visits to European art schools. It will also discuss the four European Tuning documents (in Dance, Design, Fine Art and Theatre Education) drawn up to establish a common understanding of the core skills and competences in artistic education. The workshop comprises parallel working sessions on the writing of learning outcomes to which participants should bring their own examples for discussion and demonstration. In order to achieve a real working atmosphere the number of participants is limited. For further information contact local organiser Francisco Beja at franciscobeja@esmae-ipp.pt .

Please send an e-mail to for registration and information.

Information about the Mobile phone film presented at the Conference ‘Towards Strong Creative Disciplines in Europe’ 27 – 28 April 2007 in Tallinn.

CONSUMING DESIRE, ARTISTIC MOBILE PHONE FILM
tells a story about... an Estonian diplomat Martin and his trivial past relationship with a Spanish lady who returns to his life. Conversations turn into an analysis about the effect of consumption on human relations. The short movie includes elements of Estonian culture, design, art and food. The set design entails props produced by students of the Estonian Academy of Arts. In addition to the EAA students the film crew consisted of students of partner universities from Denmark, Sweden, UK, Germany, Mexico, Finland, Iceland, Spain and China. This is the first film on mobile phone screens in Estonia. Consuming Desire premiered on EMT customers‘ mobile phone screens and in Kumu Art Museum in April at the international conference ‚Towards Strong Creative Disciplines in Europe’. The film music has been created in collaboration with professor in improvisation Anto Pett of the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, doctoral student Anne-Liis Poll and other music students. In a free improvisation the musician uses knowledge and skills acquired during his lifetime. Playing music together is a dialogue between musicians, it demands attention, concentration and listening to each other, just like conversation. This is the reason this genre was chosen for the film soundtrack.

For more information contact Rena Kull at rena@ema.edu.ee .

May 2007 London Communiqué ‘Towards the European Higher Education Area’
In their London meeting, the European ministers for higher education announced ‘decisive progress’ in the areas of student and staff mobility, employability of graduates and lifelong learning. The ministers observed that many challenges remain in the field of staff and student mobility. Issues relating to immigration, recognition, insufficient financial incentives and inflexible pension arrangements were discussed. The renewed focus on mobility also includes a significant increase of joint programmes (also in research), and the creation of flexible curricula. They further urge governments and higher education institutes to communicate more with employers and other stakeholders. For the first time since the start of the Bologna process in 1999 ‘creativity’ has been mentioned. The introduction says: ‘We recognise the important influence higher education institutes exert on developing our societies, based on their traditions as centres of learning, research, creativity and knowledge transfer …’. The membership of the Republic of Montenegro has been accepted. From 1 July 2007 the presidency for the Bologna process will pass to the Benelux countries.

The next Bologna Ministerial Conference will take place in: Leuven/Louvain-la-Neuve 28-29 April 2009.

Read the full 7-page statement here .

The new website address is: www.bologna2009benelux.org

3rd Bologna Position Paper on Higher Arts Education
ELIA and AEC published a position paper with a view to the London meeting, inviting the Ministers:

To recognise higher arts and music education at 1st, 2nd, and 3rd levels and to resolve persisting problems in some countries where the 2nd and/or 3rd cycles are not yet established in our sectors.
To recognise and acknowledge artistic development and research in higher arts and music education as being at a level equivalent to other higher education disciplines.
To retain a strong emphasis on cultural diversity and artistic practice, whilst supporting the need for greater transparency and readability of qualifications.
To engage in a more subject-specific approach during the next steps of the Bologna process. As a consequence to consider organising an official Bologna seminar on higher arts and music education in 2008-2009.
To acknowledge and make use of the developed expertise in the field of quality assurance and enhancement.
To make use of the tools developed (descriptors, learning outcomes, competences) for the establishment of sectoral national and European qualifications frameworks.
To fully invest in modern, well-equipped higher arts and music education to maintain and further develop its unique qualities in an increasingly digital society and economy.

Report ‘Economy of Culture’ - Comments requested

At the conference ‘Towards Strong Creative Disciplines in Europe’ in Tallinn Gianluca Monte from Kern European Affairs presented the first European report ever, assessing the economic and social value of the cultural and creative sectors. The report raises a large number of questions and ELIA would like to compile a well-documented reaction. Please send comments to . The summary and different chapters of the report can be found here.

eContentplus: new work programme and call for proposals
A new work programme has been published for the European progamme eContentplus, which aims to make digital content in Europe more accessible. The programme, which may be interesting for art schools, helps institutions and organisations to increase the use and reuse of their material. Fur the purpose of this work programme, educational digital content is defined as content that also can be used for learning in formal education and training programmes, in non-formal education, as well as for self-learning. The call for proposals will be published in June with a deadline on 4 October 2007.

For more information click here

Ecole Regionale des Beaux-Arts Rouen - FRANCE Full Member	Gazi Universitesi Faculty of Fine Arts Ankara - TURKEY Full Member
H¢gskolan i Agder Kristiansand - Norway Full Member	SAMK Kuvataide Kankaanpaa Kankaanpää - Finland Full Member
Staffordshire University Faculty of Arts, Media and Design Staffordshire - United Kingdom Full Member	Unitec New Zealand School of Performing and Screen Arts Auckland - NEW ZEALAND Non European Member
Universität für Angewandte Kunst Wien Wien - AUSTRIA Full Member	Yerevani Tatroni ev Kinoi Petakan Istitut Yerevan - ARMENIA

All new members have a provisional status of membership the first two months after publication in the newsletter so that existing members can draw attention to any impediments to membership.

ELIA Teachers’ Academy, Brighton (UK), 11-14 July 2007
ELIA Leadership Symposium, Hong Kong (China), 4-7 December 2007
ELIA Biennial Conference, Göteborg (Sweden), 29 October - 1 November 2008

Focus on the structure of higher education in Europe. National trends in the Bologna Process - 2006/07 Edition
This Eurydice publication reviews national trends in the reorganisation of higher education. It reports on each of the aims of the Bologna Process for the establishment of a European higher education area by 2010. It also describes the incentives introduced at national level to encourage higher education to adapt to the aims of the Bologna Process. Published by Eurydice in English, French and German. Printed versions in English are available.

Click here to download the publication in English.

European University Association Report on the project ‘Creativity in Higher Education’ 2006/2007 32 higher education institutions from 21 countries collaborated in four networks, investigating a range of conditions promoting or hindering creativity in relation to the following themes: I. Creative partnerships: HEIs and external stakeholders II. Creative learners: Innovation in teaching and learning III. Creative cities/regions: HEIs, NGOs and governments IV. Creative HEIs: structures and leadership

Utrecht School of Arts, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, University of Art and Design, Helsinki, Malmö Academy of Music, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, and The Hague Royal Conservatoire participated in the EUA project on behalf of arts and music education in the project.

The project outcomes strongly support the notion that the participation of representatives from diverse HEIs and especially the combination of arts and other disciplines provides a productive framework for tackling a multifaceted topic like creativity. Diversity was identified as a crucial factor for strengthening creativity on a number of levels: composition of research teams, teaching and learning methods, joint projects with external partners. The partners in the Creativity Project encourage universities to transcend the conventional opposition between the “ivory tower” and the world around it by balancing active engagement in society. The report contains ten key recommendations. It is downloadable from the EUA website at www.eua.be .