Bilateral agreements

Bilateral education policy

Owing to the strong international interdependence of business, politics and culture, bilateral and multilateral cooperation is increasingly gaining in importance. Bilateral/multilateral activities are no longer the exclusive preserve of traditional international forums and institutions, but have taken on new forms such as geostrategic networks and regional cooperation projects.

A dynamic bilateral educational policy is instrumental for the development and sound functioning of these networks and active regional cooperation. It builds confidence by strengthening friendships and strategic intergovernmental contacts, defining common interests and harmonised approaches.

Regular diplomatic visits by the ministers responsible for education form the top-most level in bilateral educational policy. Personal encounters create a platform for an exchange of experience and for decision-making at the highest level and pave the way for cooperation projects.

Cultural agreements are a time-honoured instrument of bilateral educational policy. As state treaties, they create scope for cooperation in education, science, art and culture. The implementing programmes are re-negotiated at regular intervals. These programmes specify the areas of cooperation, e.g.

• exchange of experts,
• in-service training of teachers for German as a foreign language,
• exchange of lecturers,
• activities of educational coordinators and of teachers delegated by Austria to educational institutions abroad,
• cooperation projects in technical and vocational training, etc.

Cultural agreements are particularly valued by the EU accession countries as a strategy of rapprochement with the European Union.

Less rigid forms of agreement on joint projects such as memoranda of Understanding, letters of intent, etc., which do not have a statutory character, have been established in the past few years. They are often of central importance as an expression of political willingness to cooperate in clearly-defined areas.

Bilateral cooperation and initiatives of the Austrian Ministry of Education, Science and Research

The merits of bilateral policies lie in the high degree of intensity and the very specific outcomes that can be obtained by cooperation between two partner countries. These are subsequently incorporated in the regional and multilateral context. The countries and regions with which Austria has cooperation agreements in the field of education via BMBWF include, in particular, Israel, the Russian Federation and also the states of Southeast Europe.

• Austria has been able to sustainably strengthen its bilateral relations with Israel. The teacher training institute National Socialism and Holocaust, Remembrance Today was initiated by BMBWF and developed in cooperation with the Israeli Holocaust research and memorial site Yad Vashem. This further education model has triggered far-reaching resonance on the international scene and is widely recognised as a best-practice model.
• BMBWF supports educational reform in the Russian Federation through project partnerships and exchanges as well as secondments of experts on themes such as quality development and quality assurance in the pre-university sector, intercultural learning and conflict management, German as a foreign language, twinning at school level and school management. Current efforts focus on Northwest Russia and St. Petersburg. In addition, BMBWF is involved in the development and implementation of regional education projects for the Caucasus region and the countries of Central Asia.
• Another focus of international activities in which BMBWF has engaged in recent years is the continuation and strengthening of pre-university educational cooperation with the SEE countries (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Ko-sovo), Moldova, and the Ukraine. KulturKontaktAustria, a competence centre for cultural education and dialogue and educational cooperation at pre-university level, has been in charge of operationalising educational programmes in this region since 1994. KulturKontaktAustria has set up eleven k-education project offices, at which Austrian educational coordinators oversee the local implementation of programmes on behalf of BMBWF.

The online database of the Department of Bilateral Affairs at BMBWF enables users to search all bilateral agreements and arrangements and also current work programmes.

For more information about the most important networks and initiatives of Austrian and foreign higher education institutions which are supported by BMBWF, cf. chapter 13.2.

Cooperation and participation in worldwide programmes and organisations

As well as cooperation projects at the European level, the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research (BMBWF) also promotes cooperation with other geographic, economic and cultural areas:

• Many Austrian universities are members of university-level networks with higher education institutions in Central and Eastern Europe, especially in the neighbouring countries.
• A large number of universities additionally have Eastern and Southeast European focuses.
• For transcontinental cooperation, the focuses are on cooperation with universities in the Asian region (mainly Southeast Asia, China and Korea) – here successful cooperation is made easier by scientific and technological agreements.
• Other focus regions for international cooperation and university networks are the United States and Latin America. For more information about existing cooperation projects and networks, see chapter 13.2.

Cooperation projects with international organisations

As well as cooperation in networks, Austrian education and training institutions also cooperate closely with European and international organisations.

Cooperation with OECD

Austria cooperates with OECD in the education sector via the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) and via OECD’s Directorate for Education and Skills. German-language information is provided by OECD’s Berlin Centre. Austria is represented in the following bodies, networks and working groups, among others:

• in the Education Policy Committee
• in the steering body of the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI)
• in the Network on Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC)
• in the steering committee for the activities of the Centre for Effective Learning Environments (CELE)
• in the Expert Network on VET
• in the Programme on Institutional Management in Higher Education (IMHE).

Austria additionally takes part in the following OECD educational programmes/international comparative studies:

• the INES programme (Indicators of Education Systems): every year a compilation with basic data on the education systems of OECD countries is published: Education at a Glance;
• PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) – worldwide OECD study of school pupils’ scholastic performance;
• PIAAC (Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies);
• Regular national reports and updates on the topic of “Recognition of non-formal and informal learning” (RNFIL);
• TALIS (Teaching and Learning International Survey) – an international study of teachers and school leaders.

Cooperation with UNESCO

The UNESCO Associated Schools Project Network (ASPnet) is a global network of more than 11,500 educational institutions in 182 countries. Schools belonging to this network work in support of international understanding, peace, intercultural dialogue, sustainable development and quality education in practice. The currently 91 Austrian UNESCO Associated Schools play a vital role as partners for the implementation of UNESCO goals. The Austrian Commission for UNESCO coordinates the national network, encompassing all types from elementary to vocational schools. The Austrian Commission for UNESCO annually publishes the magazine of the Austrian UNESCO Associated Schools, FORUM, and organises the annual network conference for teachers. Furthermore, the Commission runs a website to provide the members of the Austrian network with information and to foster exchange between schools (more).

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is one of the key topics of the 21st century in order to foster the ESD and the Global Learning concept and to raise a broad discourse and public awareness within Austria.

Sustainable Development Goals - global goals for sustainable development at all levels

Austria, together with all member states of the United Nations, has committed itself to the implemention of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development under the title "Transformation of Our World." Concrete action areas with 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been identified by the World Community in order to realize its ambitious vision of a peaceful, just, socially inclusive world in which natural resources are used sustainably.

Please see here.

The UIL (UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning) is responsible for various agendas of adult education and has organised and run events such as the Sixth International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA) which took place in Brasil in December 2009 with participation of 144 Member States including Austria. The outcome document “Belém Framework for Action” reaffirmed adult education as an essential element of the right to education and summarized the commitments made by the Member States in the areas of policy, governance, financing, quality, participation and adult literacy. The triennial “Global Report on Adult Learning and Education” (GRALE 1, 2010, GRALE 2, 2013, GRALE 3, 2016) focuses on monitoring the progress and implementation of those recommendations.

GRALE 4 (2019) will focus on participation in adult learning and education, measurement instruments and related indicators.

Another UIL task is the organization of the Revision of the “UNESCO Recommendation on the Development of Adult Education” (the so-called Nairobi Declaration from 1976). Austria is participating in online consultations and contributing to those UNESCO-UIL activities with national country reports and positions. UNESCO (as well as OECD) is dealing with specific topics such as the “Recognition, validation and accreditation of non-formal and informal learning” (RVA) by analyzing the situation from a more global than just European perspective based again on consultations of the Member states.

Cooperation projects at the European level

Cooperation with the Council of Europe on education focuses on:

• education policy projects about contents and methods of school-based and non-school education;
• evaluation of experiences and research results;
• promotion of cooperation and exchange of good practices in the field of education;
• creation of new networks and promotion of partnerships;
• publication of studies and manuals for teachers and politicians.

The Council of Europe attaches particular importance to intercultural education as well as the mutual recognition of qualifications which enhance mobility and employability, and also lifelong learning in view of active participation in the international community. The Council of Europe has proclaimed 26 September as the European Day of Languages. The European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML) in Graz serves as a forum for teacher trainers, school textbook authors and curriculum developers. It focuses on the implementation and innovation of language policy and has set itself the task of disseminating effective practices in the teaching and acquisition of modern languages.