Heads' Meetings 2003
Heads' Meetings September 2003
Invitation
The Sixth Meeting of Heads of Schools of Architecture in Europe entitled “Shaping the European Higher Architectural Education Area” will take place in Hania, Crete from 3 to 6 September 2003 . For the past five years EAAE organises this Meeting which gathers those responsible for the management of academic issues of schools of architecture (heads, deans, as well as program coordinators). The scope of these Meetings is to develop a positive milieu for exchange of views and positions, criticism and proposals for the support to schools of architecture to integrate in the, under construction, European Higher Education Area.
From last year the Meeting of Heads has integrated in the framework of ENHSA Thematic Network (European Network of Heads of Schools of Architecture) which is developed in the framework of Socrates Program after a proposal originate by EAAE. The scope of the Network is the generation of a broader milieu for the support of Schools of Architecture, which will survey the tendencies and dynamics of architectural education in Europe . Having this survey as foundation, the Network will attempt to articulate the convergence but also the divergence among schools in relation to the general principles, values and priorities in the education of the architect. In parallel, the Network will record the strategies adopted by schools of architecture for the organisation of their curricula with the perspective to shape the contemporary European profile of architectural education. The data collected and the conclusions drawn from this project will be passed onto all European decision-making centres.
During the Fifth Meeting last year, the 115 participants, Heads or their representatives and curriculum coordinators agreed that the perspective of the generation of a European Higher Architectural Education Area depends, to a great extent, on the compatibility of the general principles and values with which schools encounter the four main issues: 1. The structure of school curricula in the undergraduate and post graduate level and their academic content. 2. The relationship of the curricula structure with the types of professionals as these emerge from the diplomas awarded, as well as the relationship of schools with the respective professional bodies. 3. The main principles for the assessment of school curricula both in terms of self-assessment as well as in terms of assessment by the broader academic society. 4. The form(s) of mobility of both students, teaching and research staff as well as the institutional framework and more specifically, the ECTS system, for the development of this mobility.
In order to elaborate all these issues, the 2002 Meeting defined four working groups consisting of participants who volunteered to make a contribution. In these four groups, there are 36 Heads and/or their representatives as well as curriculum coordinators from 28 schools of architecture. Their preparatory meeting took place in Antwerp on 29 March 2003 . The working groups, taking into account the debates from the 2002 Meeting in Hania, as these were recorded in the proceedings, and the discussions which were developed in Antwerp , defined as a first step issues which will constitute the objectives of the inquiry in all schools of architecture. This inquiry will occur from mid May to end of June 2003. The collection of these data is of vital importance for drawing a concise picture of the state of the art of architectural education in Europe and for that we kindly ask you to dedicate some of your precious time to respond to this appeal.
The working groups will organize the four respective thematic areas of the Sixth Meeting and will prepare the presentation of the results which will in turn form the basis for the debates of the respective workshops.
As in previous years, the Meeting is not a conference with paper presentations but primarily a milieu for exchange of views and dialogue. The presence of Heads is important for shaping a more representative proposal for the future of architectural education in Europe.
