Innovation, Quality and Networking in Engineering Education in Europe : the Contribution of SOCRATES THEMATIC NETWORKS

Abstract

Accreditation of the degree programmes in Engineering is surely an argument which stimulates a great interest not only in the Italian level but above all in the European perspective. It appears strategic that Europe is equipped with a system which permits to compare the degree programmes in Engineering offered by various universities in Europe also in view of a major competition in the area of higher education in the European Union, in comparison with third countries. This appears the principal basis of different actions financed by the European Commission, which have among their own objectives also the study of an accreditation system of the degree programmes in Engineering in Europe. In this article 3 SOCRATES Thematic Networks are presented, which, one after the other, starting from 1998, have been operational in the European panorama. Among their objectives there is a recurrent motive: accreditation of the degree programmes in Engineering in Europe.