Heads' Meetings 2004
EAAE/ENHSA Meeting of Heads of European Schools of Architecture 4-7 September 2004:
"Shaping Architectural Curricula for the European Higher Education Area"
Invitation
Invitation to the 7th Meeting oh Heads of Schools of Architecture
“Shaping Architectural Curricula for the European Higher Education Area”
The Seventh Meeting of Heads of Schools of Architecture in Europe entitled “Shaping Architectural Curricula for the European Higher Education Area” will take place in Hania, Crete from 4 to 7 September 2004. In our increasingly changing world the importance of our meetings became apparent as they aim to integrate, develop and preserve a lively and dynamic milieu for communication, exchange and collectivity and cultivate creatively, with dialogue and collaboration, the future of architectural education in Europe.
For the past six years the EAAE organises this Meeting which gathers those responsible for the management of academic issues of schools of architecture (heads, deans, as well as program and exchange 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.
Two years ago the Meeting of Heads has integrated in the framework of ENHSA Thematic Network (European Network of Heads of Schools of Architecture) which is in turn developed in the framework of Socrates Program after a proposal originated from 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 attempts 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 is recording 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 are passed onto all European decision-making centres.
In order to elaborate the theme and the issues of the seventh Meeting, the working groups defined by the Meeting of 2002 for this purpose, had a preparatory meeting in Antwerp on 21 February 2004. In these four groups, there are 36 Heads and/or their representatives as well as curriculum coordinators from 28 schools of architecture. The working groups, taking into account the debates from the previous Meetings in Hania, as these were recorded in the proceedings, the framework of the European policies and the consultations presented by the European Union through the Socrates Thematic Networks regarding the ‘Tuning' pilot project on the contents and structure of the curricula, defined as main theme of the Meeting the new architectural curricula. This theme will be approached through the examination of the learning outcomes and the competences that the graduates of schools of architecture in Europe must possess.
As a first step the working groups have already prepared a questionnaire on competences which you will receive in a few days. We would like to take the opportunity to ask for your help in this new inquiry in the form of diffusing it at the academic milieu of your School. The collection of these data related to the competences (abilities, capacities, awareness, skills, knowledge etc) is of vital importance for drawing a concise picture of the state of the art of the conception of contemporary academics about the learning outcome of architectural education in Europe. We kindly ask you to dedicate some of your precious time to respond to this appeal.
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 very important for shaping a more representative proposal for the future of architectural education in Europe.
Last but not least, we are delighted to inform you that this year our Meeting will host two renowned personalities of the world of architectural education and architecture in general. The first keynote speech will be delivered by Stamford Anderson from M.I.T and the second keynote speech by Kas Ostehuis from Delft University.
Heads of Schools and Program coordinators are kindly requested to send by e-mail or fax as soon as possible and not later than 10 August 2004 the registration form . In case that they cannot be with us in September, they are asked to identify another person, related to the administration of academic issues, to represent their School.
