Evaluation of UNESCO’s Regional Conventions on the Recognition of Qualifications in Higher Education

UNESCO has established a number of regional recognition conventions in higher education. The conventions constitute a unique legal framework for allowing the recognition of qualifications in higher education between States Parties. This evaluation is timely given the ongoing efforts made by UNESCO and its Member States to develop and implement a new generation of regional conventions, and the discussions and consultations underway for the potential development of a global convention on the recognition of qualifications in higher education. The evaluation focuses on the importance and role of the higher education recognition conventions in the various regional contexts; the relevance of and contribution of the conventions to UNESCO’s broader higher education programme; the effectiveness of the governing and management mechanisms of the regional conventions; and the effectiveness of UNESCO’s support for the development, ratification, and implementation of the regional conventions. It also identifies key lessons to be learned from the development, ratification and implementation of the regional conventions so far, as well as from the implementation of other standard-setting instruments in UNESCO. The report contains eight key recommendations and several proposed action points to strengthen and take the work forward in the future

Beyond outputs: pathways to symmetrical evaluations of university sustainable development partnerships

As the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005–2014) draws to a close, it is timely to review ways in which the sustainable development initiatives of higher education institutions have been, and can be, evaluated. In their efforts to document and assess collaborative sustainable development program outcomes and impacts, universities in the North and South are challenged by similar conundrums that confront development agencies. This article explores pathways to symmetrical evaluations of transnationally partnered research, curricula, and public-outreach initiatives specifically devoted to sustainable development. Drawing on extensive literature and informed by international development experience, the authors present a novel framework for evaluating transnational higher education partnerships devoted to sustainable development that addresses design, management, capacity building, and institutional outreach. The framework is applied by assessing several full-term African higher education evaluation case studies with a view toward identifying key limitations and suggesting useful future symmetrical evaluation pathways. University participants in transnational sustainable development initiatives, and their supporting donors, would be well-served by utilizing an inclusive evaluation framework that is infused with principles of symmetry