The EDLab team meets in Barcelona for a workshop to define criteria, global attractiveness and awarding procedure of the new European Degree Label

On 11^th and 12^th January 2024, the EDLab consortium gathered at the University of Pompeu Fabra, in Barcelona, for its 2^nd Workshop focusing on the co-design of the European Degree Label. The goal of the workshop was to reach a consensus on the recommendations being prepared by EDLab on the criteria, guidelines and certificates for the Label. 40 participants from 20 institutions, including both full and associate partners, actively contributed to the discussion.

During day 1, attendees analysed all criteria proposed by the European Commission in detail, based on the results of the interviews and focus groups carried out in the previous phases of the project, proposing new wording for each criterion or confirming the original formulation. Then the global attractiveness of the Label was debated in the light of the recent findings of a survey targeting international JP students & alumni, developed by the EDLab team. Day 2 was dedicated to discussing the process of awarding the Label and certificates, based on the comprehensive work carried out by WP4 in designing the certificate template, developing guidelines for the label certificate contents and layout, and preparing the pilot awarding of the first label certificates.

The rich information gathered during the workshop will feed into the final recommendations on the Label criteria and on the process for the pilot awarding that will be published in the coming months by the EDLab team. Some important outcomes of this workshop were the agreement that the Label should be understood as a marker of quality and excellence in jointness; it should have reputational value and be a strong motivation both for JP enhancement and legislative change in EU countries. Moreover, it should be a fundamental intermediate step towards the European Degree and is key for its future visibility and branding.

All participants strongly believe in the importance of expressing the consortium’s vision for the future development of the ED Label and future degree. They look forward to contributing to the Call for Evidence for the upcoming EU Higher Education Package just launched by the EC, with a specific focus on the ‘Communication on a Joint European Degree’.