The ACPUA has presented the new program ALCAEUS for The 2030 universities, schools and research institutes certification within the framework of an international meeting organized by our agency at the Underground laboratory of Canfranc (LSC, Canfranc - Station, Huesca). This meeting, entitled "The 2030 Agency: Embarking QA Agencies and stakeholders in this collective journey”, took place last 28th and 29th of May and was attended by many Spanish QA representatives and practically all schools, offices and stakeholders of the Aragonese University system that are committed to the social dimension of the quality and the objectives of sustainable development (ODS) of the United Nations. The meeting was presented by Antonio Serrano, Director of ACPUA, and has been dedicated to José Angel Villar, unforgettable Chairman of the ACPUA Committee of Experts and Associate Director of the LSC until his death in 2017.
During the meeting, Daniella Tilbury presented also the document "Proposal of indicators to embed the Sustainable Development Goals into Institutional Quality", which is the main result of the project “Making connections between the institutional evaluation and the Sustainable Development Goals. Empowering stakeholders for quality enhancement", led jointly last year by AQUA and ACPUA, co-financed by The International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) and enriched by the contributions and initiatives of universities and stakeholders in Aragon and Andorra, most of them present in Canfranc.
This document of indicators was then discussed by representatives of the Aragonese universities making valuable contributions to it: Carlos Pérez Caseiras, Rector of the Universidad San Jorge; Dolores Cepero, Deputy Director of the Polytechnic School of Huesca (University of Zaragoza); Paloma Ibarra, from the Vice-Rectorship of Foresight, Sustainability and Infrastructure of the University of Zaragoza; and Laura Peiró, President of the Zaragoza University Student’s Council. Elena de Mier, from the ACS Foundation in Madrid and evaluator for ACPUA, made also an appraisal from her position as external stakeholder. Marta Fonolleda, AQUA’s director, was the chair of the discussion panel.
Gracia Serrano (ESIC Madrid) had also the opportunity to show the conclusions of her innovative research on Sustainability of the Qualifications Frameworks in the European Higher education Area, Alexis Lopez (ACCUEE) illustrated the attendees on the Canarian articulated strategy on sustainable development and Alejandra Cortés (Zaragoza University) showed the application of the “Design Thinking” with regard to the ODS.
Meanwhile, professor Julio Gaitán (University of el Rosario, Bogotá) pointed out the recent and extraordinary phenomenon of the creation of universities of indigenous communities in Colombia and, the commendable Fondazione Quartieri degli Spagnoli of Naples remarked, through its acclaimed program FOQUS, that the ODS are not necessarily placed in an abstract and incomprehensible plane but that they are object of daily fights and efforts in urban contexts that are fragile and threatened. This social dimension of quality was enriched with the reflection on University and city that developed Ignacio Pemán (European Council of Spatial Planners) and the exciting, moving projection of "Rachel's Story", animated short film "Seeking Refuge", with which its creator, Salvador Maldonado (Mosaic Motion, London), present at the meeting, won a Bafta award. A coral discussion among all participants, moderated by José Ángel Domínguez (Director of ACSUCYL) and launched from the reflections of Eva Ferreira (Director of Unibasq and Vice President of ENQA), Martí Casadesus (Director of AQU Catalunya) and Pilar Garcés (ex-General Director of universities and research of the Junta of Castilla and Leon) put an end to this international meeting.
The program ALCAEUS of ACPUA, result of the commitment of our agency with the social dimension of the quality and, right now in pilot phase, is the first Protocol prepared by a Spanish QA for future certification of universities, centers and research institutes committed to the 2030 Agency. ALCAEUS comes to provide a specific and applicable evaluation framework to assess the degree of implementation of the ODS in the near future in the Aragonese University System.
