14 regions and cities in 11 countries participated in the 2nd round of the OECD Reviews in 2009-2011. The 2nd round is coming towards the end: 13 review reports published and one is in the production process. To learn more about the regions and the review reports, please visit our dedicated website www.oecd.org/edu/imhe/regional

Please find below a list of the published reports. The review reports are also available on the OECD ilibrary

The Paso del Notre Region, United States of America – Mexico, available here 

Amsterdam, Netherlands, available here

Rotterdam, Netherlands, available here

Berlin, Germany, available here

The Autonomous Region of Andalusia, Spain, available here

State of Victoria, Australia, available here

State of Veracruz, Mexico, available here

Bío Bío Region, Chile, available here

The Autonomous Region of Catalonia, Spain, available here

State of Penang, Malaysia, available here

State of Paraná, Brazil, available here

Just published:

The OECD Galilee review report was published in November. Read the report here. The executive summary is available here.

The review report was launched in the OECD country accession seminar for Israel on 23 November 2011. Moshe Vigdor, Director General, Council for Higher Education, thanked the OECD for the report and noted that most of its recommendations had been taken on board in the multi-year plan for higher education.  

This OECD report explores how universities and colleges in the Galilee can fuel local growth by developing relevant skills and improving educational attainment levels across the multi-ethnic, multi-religious population. While the region is characterised by a low skills/low wage economy, the report outlines how HEIs can leverage the current economic base to generate employment and promote new business formation. Key to success is widening access to higher education to underrepresented groups.

The OECD Lombardy review report was published in November. Read the report here. The executive summary is available here.

The OECD report analyses how Lombardy can face the long-term challenges arising from an ageing population, immigration and slow adaptation of practices and technologies that could enhance productivity. The report outlines how HEIs can assist Lombardy in dealing with the strong global competition by attracting and retaining international talent and raising educational attainment in the region.

Southern Arizona is a major gateway for trade with Mexico and its economic engine, the Tucson metropolitan area has developed into a hub of light-based industries. The major challenge for Southern Arizona is to develop a high-wage, knowledge-based economy with decreasing state funding for higher education due to the economic crisis. This report outlines how, in the time of financial stringency the University of Arizona and community colleges can preserve their existing strengths and address the needs of the diverse population. The report proposes measures for the region and its higher education institutions that will contribute to human capital and skills development, fuel local growth, generate new business formation and create high quality jobs.

Third round

The third round of reviews is already underway but new regions can still sign up. Two review visits have already taken place and the reports for the Free State (South Africa) and Antioquia (Colombia) will be published in spring 2012. The next review visits will take place in Wrocław (Poland) in February and Sonora (Mexico) in March. The Basque Country joined the regional reviews in October 2011.

The OECD Secretariat is currently negotiating with regions and their HEIs in Austria, Brazil, Chile, Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Norway, Slovenia, Thailand and the US. The third round will benefit mainly regions and cities having IMHE member institutions. Read more here.

OECD Seminar called for partnership between Vocational and University Education, Donostia-San Sebastián,  Spain 17-18 October 2011

Photo (L to R): Bernard Hugonnier, Deputy Director for Education, OECD, Ms Isabel Celáa, Regional Minister of Education,  Mr. Iñaki Goirizelaia, Rector of the University of the Basque Country, Mr. Marius Rubiralta, Spanish Secretary General of Universities and Ms. Cristina Uriarte, Vice-Rector of the University of Basque Country

The OECD Seminar "Collaboration between Vocational and University Education: Building Partnerships for Regional Development" explored the main challenges and opportunities of collaboration between vocational tertiary and university education for regional growth and development. The seminar, which took place over two days, attracted more than 80 participants from governments and higher and vocational education institutions.  The conference programme focused on widening access to tertiary education, industry led skills development, and partnerships to boost innovation. Keynote speeches were given by Michael Young (Prof. Emeritus at the Institute of Education of London), Stan Tiedemann (Rector of the Danish University Extension in Aarhus) and Joan Majó (Spanish Former Minister of Industry). The seminar was co-organised by the Spanish Ministry of Education and the University of the Basque Country. 

Read about the conference www.oecd-donostia2011.com

A blog entry in Educationtoday about the seminar is available here.

The OECD report on Collaboration Between Vocational And University Education will be published in Spring 2012, highlighting international good practices.

Staff News

Òscar VALIENTE, Consultant, is leaving the Higher Education and Regions team. We would like to thank him for replacing the team leader for the first half of 2011 and for his work in engaging regions in Spain and Latin America.

Austin DELANEY, Consultant, is also leaving. We would like to thank him for his assistance and contribution to the project in particular improving the communication tools and for his analytical work.

Bonifacio AGAPIN, Consultant, will join the IMHE programme Higher Education in Regional and City Development on 2 January 2012. He is fluent in English and Spanish, is highly proficient in French and German, and is proficient in Hungarian. Previously, he was a  consultant to IMHE Quality in Teaching Project and then in the Centre for Effective Learning Environments (CELE). Prior to joining the OECD, he worked for several years in the Higher Education Sector as a Foreign Credentials Evaluator in the US and as a Postgraduate Student Counsellor in the UK.

Staff

Jaana PUUKKA, Project Manager, jaana.puukka@oecd.org, Tel +33 1 4524 1661; Mobile +33 6 2795 4723

Bonifacio AGAPIN, Consultant, bonifacio.agapin@oecd.org, Tel +33 1 4524 9226 

Rachel LINDEN, Project Assistant, rachel.linden@oecd.org, Tel +33 1 4524 9755

Web 2.0

OECD Higher Education in Regional and City Development is on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Google Maps.

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