Draft:Forum Européen de l'Orientation Académique

FEDORA

FEDORA (acronym from French) Forum Européen de l'Orientation Académique; The European Forum on Student Guidance was a non-profit organisation established under Belgian law with its registered office in Brussels on 1 December 1988 and existed until it was officially wound up on 2 April 2012. In the spring of 2010, FEDORA was merged as a Special Interest Group (SIG) into the European Association for International Education (EAIE), which was founded in 1989. (As FEDORA is an acronym, I think it should be consistently written with capital letters throughout this text).

To date, FEDORA was the only association of professionals working in guidance and counselling within European higher education institutions. Specialist advisers and counsellors, academic teaching staff and experts from relevant professional organisations together formed a network that continued to expand steadily over a long period of time and enabled the exchange of practice, methods, systems, knowledge and information between practitioners in the wide range of university student counselling, guidance and support services.  As a result, distinct activities were agreed for the implementation, expansion and quality assurance of the student advisory services in the European higher education landscape, as well as providing an impetus for anchoring this provision in higher education policy within and across European universities.

1 Background and foundation

1.1 Prehistory

At the beginning of the 1980s, the Commission of the European Communities commissioned  the Italian Fondazione RUI  [https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fondazione_Rui], a Catholic foundation dedicated to international student mobility, student housing and institution based university guidance services, among other things, to carry out research on the student advisory services offered by European universities. The results of the Foundation's study were published in October 1981 and were discussed in the same month at a conference in Castel Gandolfo near Rome, to which the Fondazione RUI had invited the European consultants involved in the study^. Topics included graduate unemployment and labour market development.

In the same year^, on the initiative of Heinz Augenstein, head of the Central Student Advisory Service at Saarland University and founder of the first German pilot project on student advisory services, with the support of the British Council and the Bonn Federal Ministry of Education and Science (BMBW),  the first of two German-British conferences on system comparisons took place in Saarbrücken. Experts from Italy and Austria, among others, also took part in this event.

The second German-British expert conference on issues around student guidance and cooperation between student guidance and career guidance took place from 25 - 29 September 1984 at Royal Hollow College, University of London with the theme "The Contribution of Guidance and Counselling at a Time of Economic Difficulty". The conference attracted 21 participants from the UK and 25 from the Federal Republic of Germany.^.

At these conferences, many participants gained their first experience of international cooperation with colleagues from other European countries and wanted to deepen this knowledge on further occasions. It was the French Ministry of National Education that, together with the Fondazione RUI, organized the second Conference on University Guidance in Europe in Paris and Nantes in September 1985. The main focus was on the transition from school to university and the use of new technologies in university guidance and counselling. The proceedings were published by the Fondazione RUI ^.

These events between 1985 and 1988, which were partly funded by the ERASMUS EC Office opened in 1987, together with some particularly active university guidance professionals, created the conditions for the establishment of a permanent association: FEDORA.

1.2 Foundation

FEDORA was founded in October 1988. At that time, with the support of the Greek Ministry of Education and the European Commission, the third Conference on University Guidance in Europe was held in Athens and Delphi. The 21 founding members of FEDORA formed a provisional Executive Committee in which each of the then twelve member countries of the EC was represented: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom. The German founding members were Heinz Augenstein (ZSB Saarbrücken) and Barbara M.L. Steiger (West German Rectors' Conference/WRK). (In the interest of equality, I think the other founding members should also be named after their country in the list above.)

At the same time in 1998, the first FEDORA working groups were set up with projects such as developing a directory of all university guidance services active in the EC area. This was intended to facilitate contacts and exchange between institutions and individuals and to help ensure better support for European exchange students. Another project was to develop a glossary of technical terminology for university guidance and counselling, taking into account the different education systems of the EC member states. In addition, the guidance and counselling needs of students in the EC were to be researched. English and French were adopted as FEDORA’s working languages.

The Executive Committee decided on the provisional Statutes /Constitution) of the association and elected Anthony Raban (Career Service of the University of Cambridge) as its first president, Jean-Marie Burnet from Belgium (Centre d'information et d'orientation of the Université Catholique de Louvain in Louvain-la-Neuve) as vice-president and Frederick Company (Universitat Ramon Llull-Blanquerna, Facultat de Psicologia i Pedagogia Barcelona) as secretary.

2 Goals

In accordance with Article 3 of the Statutes/ Constitution of April 1990^, FEDORA set itself the following goals:

(a) to exchange information and experience between European higher education guidance professionals

(b) to promote the quality and effectiveness of higher education guidance in the EC Member States by means of joint activities and research programmes

(c) to cooperate with other bodies, in particular the Commission of the European Communities, in order to convey the views of university guidance professionals and to facilitate the consultation of such professionals

(d) to offer a network of support for European programmes such as ERASMUS or COMETT in order to make them known to universities and students alike

(e) to propose and carry out research on various aspects of university guidance, to publish and disseminate the results and to organise seminars, conferences and congresses on this subject

(f) to cooperate with higher education institutions and national and international organisations engaged in the field of higher education and guidance.

3 Membership and Organisation

3.1 Membership

In accordance with its Statutes (Constitution), FEDORA accepted full members, associate members and honorary members. Its working languages were French and English, and at conferences, the language of the respective host country was also used.  

Full membership with voting rights was granted to professionals from the higher education sector of the EC Member States who were active practitioners, conducting relevant research or teaching or in a relevant managerial capacity. Similar personnel from European non-EC countries could obtain associate membership, as well as institutions, organisations and associations that were involved in the field of university guidance and counselling. The Executive Committee officially decided on the admission of members.

3.2 Organisation

The structure of the decision-making processes and the ways of working were also laid down in the Statutes. The General Assembly, which was convened every three years, acted as the supreme body of FEDORA. It approved full, associate and honorary memberships, amendments to the Statutes, appointed and dismissed members of the Executive Committee (EC), adopted the rules of procedure and could decide on the voluntary dissolution of FEDORA.

The Executive Committee consisted of one representative from each country with members and developed the guidelines and governance of FEDORA on behalf of the General Assembly. Its members were ultimately elected at the General Assembly on the basis of proposals from the member countries. The EC in turn elected the President and Vice-President as well as the Secretary and the Treasurer from among its own members. The EC was able to set up Working Groups and planned the association’s activities, in particular the triennial congress [internal link] with the General Assembly and the summer universities (internal link). In addition, the EC published the regular FEDORA newsletters and later designed the FEDORA website and was able to initiate, plan and carry out important overarching projects. In 1994, Jean Marie Burnet reported that Fedora now had 400 members.^.

3.3 Presidents

Tony Raban, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, 1988-199

Jean-Marie Burnet, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium, 1992-1994

Lucia Berta, RUI Foundation, Italy, 1995-1997

Joachim Klaus, University of Karlsruhe (TH), Germany, 1998 -2000

Margaret Dane, Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 2001-2003

Gerhart Rott, University of Wuppertal, Germany, 2004 -2007

Christian Cormier, University of Poitiers, France 2007-2009

Hans-Werner Rückert, Free University of Berlin, Germany, 2009 -2012

3.4 Working Groups

The Fedora Working Groups (WGs) reflected the various specialisations within university guidance and counselling services and their development as well as the main areas of work and interests of the members in the European context. Their changes reflected the dynamic evolution of FEDORA.

·            The FEDORA Employment Group was established at the FEDORA Conference in Cambridge [internal link] in 1990. ^, This group focussed on the work of university careers services and their work with students, graduates and employers.

·            FEDORA Training This group had members from all the various specialisms within FEDORA and focussed on the further training and development of higher education guidance and counselling professionals, relevant to their work in the European context.

^·             FEDORA PSYCHE (Psychological Counselling in Higher Education) was accepted as a working group in Berlin. The founding event of PSYCHE took place in Amsterdam in May 1990 ^.  This group consisted of practitioners providing psychological counselling to higher education students across Europe.

·            FEDORA Handi was set up at the 5th FEDORA Congress [internal link] in Barcelona as a response to an overview of existing facilities for higher education students with disabilities. It then became the 'Disability and Special Needs' WG and finally FEDORA Inclusion / Equal Opportunities WG

·            FEDORA Postgraduate Studies This group produced an annual guide to postgraduate study in Europe for a number of years from 1996.

After 2000, the EC worked on a modification of the structure of the working groups based on consultative discussions and following reports by Margaret Dane and Gerhart Rott There were now only four working groups:

• FEDORA Educational Guidance & Counselling
• FEDORA PSYCHE (Psychological Counselling in Higher Education)
• FEDORA Employment Group
• FEDORA Disability, Special Needs

The report (Winter 2003 ) presents a description of the objectives, nature of the members, tasks and activities. In addition, three Support Groups working with the EC were introduced: Communication & Technology, Training, and European Commission.

4 Activities

4.1 Congresses

FEDORA's most important events were the triennial Congresses, which always included a General Assembly. Their focus was the strategic development of European guidance and counselling at Europe's universities and of FEDORA itself. The payment method of the FEDORA Congresses was in line with the previous European Conferences on University Guidance in Europe (see 1.2 Foundation [internal link]). A working group set up by the WRK/HRK and the FEDORA EC organized the 4th European Colloquium for Student Advisors, 3-5 July 1991, in Berlin: University Rectors' Conference (HRK), One Year Earlier Studying in Europe.

After this Berlin event, all subsequent congresses were convened at intervals of about 3 years, each in a different member country. They were organised and carried out by the FEDORA EC and local organising committees of the host university and documented in English and French and partly in the respective national language of the host country.

5th Congress; Barcelona, 27th-30th April 1994: New Challenges for Guidance in Europe – The Present and the Future

6th Congress; L'Aquila, 28th - 31st May 1997: Understanding complexity – respecting diversity – Student counselling and Career Guidance

7th Congress; Edinburgh, 26th-29th August 2000: FEDORA 2000 – Fit for the Future; Managing a Changing World

8th Congress; Odense, 25th -28th May 2003: Students & Graduates in the Europe of Tomorrow – Student Services Providing a Foundation for Lifelong Learning and Development

9th Congress; Vilnius, 22nd -25th October 2006: Professional Challenges: Guidance and Counselling within the European Higher Education Area

10th Congress; Berlin, 5th -7th October 2009: Lifelong Guidance – The Key to Lifelong Learning

4.2 Summer Universities

The FEDORA Summer Universities, essentially its main training programme, addressed a wide range of people involved in student guidance and counselling in the higher education sector across Europe with its framework of diverse issues and current topics. Presentations with discussions and workshops that allowed reflection on many relevant topics offered the participants opportunities to exchange ideas and further their professional development. The various local, regional and national cultural and higher education policy contexts were also taken into account to enable achieving the conference objectives.

The implementation and planning were initially the responsibility of the 'Training Working Group, but later it became that of the EC in cooperation with all the working groups and the local host organisation group. The following summer universities took place:

1993 Summer University: European Training Course for University Guidance Counsellors. University of Montpellier III, 19-23 July 1993

1995 Summer University: Successful Adjustment to University and Progression beyond in a European Context. Trinity College Dublin, 21st-26th August 1995

1996 Summer University: Decision Making for Lifelong Learning. Universiteit van Amsterdam, 27th August – 1st September 1996

1998 Summer University: University, Europe, Region: Higher Education Counsellors between Local and International Perspectives. Bordeaux, 20th-25th July 1998

1999 Summer University: The New Millennium: A Skills Challenge for Higher Education, the Counsellor's Responsibility for Facilitating Equality and Diversity in a European Society. Stockholm University, 12th -16th August 1999

2001 Summer University: Through Guidance to Employment. European Students and Entrepreneurship ('Best Practice' in Europe). Paris, 2nd-6th July 2001

2005 Summer University: Knowledge & Transitions: Challenges for Guidance and Counselling within the Context of Globalization and the Enlarged European Union.Cyprus, 13th -17th July 2005

2008 Summer University: Diversity and Identity in European Higher Education Area – Working together for Inclusion. Leiden, 16th -18th June 2008

2011 Summer University: Modern Times: Counselling Students in the 21st Century. Ioannina, Greece 16th-18th June 2011

4.3 Conferences of the Working Groups

In addition to their contributions to the FEDORA Congresses and the Summer Universities, the various working groups organised specific conferences that were thematically more closely focused on their particular target groups and professional practices. These also included relevant experts from the respective regional and national contexts. In addition, they made specific contributions to professional conferences organised by third parties, e.g. with their own symposia The following FEDORA Working Group conferences were held:

Employment

1.     1990 conference: The Relationship between Student Advisers and Employers in the Context of the Graduate Labour Market after 1992. Newnham College, Cambridge 22nd - 24th March 1990

2.     1992 conference: The Relationship between Student Advisers and Employers: Proceedings of the Second European Conference on Employment. Louvain-la-Neuve, 19th - 21st March 1992

3.      1996 conference: Graduate Employment in Europe - a Challenge for University Student Career Guidance Services. Rostock, 5th- 8th May 1996

4.      1998 conference: 5th European conference of the Fedora Employment Group. Oulu, 14th -17th June 1998

5.     2004 conference: Graduate Recruitment and Employment across the Enlarged European community. Duffield House, Stoke Poges, 30th June – 2nd July 2004

6.      2007 conference: Is there a European Graduate Recruitment Market? A Conference for All Graduate Recruiters, Higher Education Educators and Support Staff Interested in the European Graduate Employment and Employability Agenda. Lancaster University, 20th-23rd June 2007

7.      2010 conference: Unlocking the potential Bordeaux 3-4 June 2010

Psychological Counselling in Higher Education (PSYCHE)

1.      1992 conference: Psychological Counselling in Higher Education in the European Community: Establishing a Common Ground and Exploring the Differences with a View towards Future Developments. Naples, 24th-26th September 1992

2.      1995 conference: Psychological Counselling in Higher Education – Practice and Research within the IV European Congress of Psychology. Athens, Greece 1995

3.      1996 conference: Culture and Psyche in Transition: a European Perspective on Student Psychological Health: Training event held at University of Sussex, in co-operation with the Association for Student Counselling. Falmer, Brighton, March 1996

4.      1997 conference: Toward the Future of Psychological Counselling in European Higher Education at 5th European Congress of Psychology in Dublin, 6th-11th July 1997

5.      1999 conference: Separation and Attachment in Higher Education. Copenhagen, 15th–17th September 1999

6.      2002 conference: Cognition, Motivation and Emotion: Dynamics in the Academic Environment. Lisbon, 15th-18th October 2002

7.      2005 conference: Internationalisation within Higher Education in an Expanding Europe: New Developments in Psychological Counselling. Groningen, 8th–11th June 2005

8.      2007 conference: Guidance and counselling in higher education in European Union member states. Crossing Internal and External Borders: Practices for Effective Psychological Counselling in Higher Education. University of Crete, Rethymnon, 5–8 September 2007

9.      2010 conference: Transitions. Alicante, Spain 17th-19th November 2010

Educational Guidance with the EC

2006 symposium: Guidance and Counselling in Higher Education in European Member States, Krakow, Poland, 9 - 10 February 2006. This event was run collaboratively between the EC and the WG.

Inclusion/ Equal Opportunities

As an important piece of work prior to the 5th FEODRA Congress in Barcelona, the then Handi WG compiled a country-specific overview of the counselling and support services available to for students with disabilities

Later, an information booklet for students with disabilities was prepared: "Studying Abroad - Checklist of the Needs of Disabled Students" and a report on the conditions of students with disabilities, supported by the EU Helios programme and titled “Studying Abroad - Guide for Students with Disabilities” The checklist was later made available on the FEDORA website

4.4 Projects / Research Investigations

On behalf of the EC, Jean-Marie Burnet, Françoise van der Mersch-Michaux and Philippe Fonck, in collaboration with at least one national correspondent for each member country, published the first Directory of University Student Guidance Services in 1991 ^.

On the basis of a framework jointly developed at the PSYCHE conference in Naples in 1992 [internal link], this Directory included psychological counselling as well as career guidance and other student support services in the context of the particular university structures. Each national team analysed its country’s range of services and summarised it in the Directory.   The project was supported by the EC in the context of the Erasmus programme.

In early 1996, the FEDORA Postgraduate Studies WG compiled a limited edition "Guide to Postgraduate Study in Europe", which was distributed to FEDORA members. From 1998 onwards, it was also made available to a wider public. To begin with, it was compiled and published by the Postgraduate Studies WG, but later by an editorial team appointed by the EC. In 2004, the Postgraduate Study Group was assigned to the new Educational Guidance and Counselling WG.

With the support of the EU Leonardo programme, the EC commissioned Raoul van Esbroeck and Anthony Watts to lead a study of the systems of guidance and counselling in higher education institutions in the EU Member States and to identify the new skills required by the professional staff of such services. It examined roles and tasks, training and qualifications and it concluded by exploring the possibility of developing a European Master's degree. The synthesis study report published under the title "New Skills for New Futures" in 1998 summarised the results of the 16 country reports (all EU Member States at the time, with a differentiation between Flanders and Wallonia). The individual country reports and their authors are listed in the synthesis report. The German sub-report was also included in the publication "New Times – New Paths".

In 2000 the Employment WG produced a report “From PhD to Employment” on the nature of the transition after completing a doctorate: either remaining in university research or teaching or moving into a profession. It also looked at the guidance and counselling services available to or required by doctoral students across the EU.

In 2008, the results of a new study on advisory services, now extended to include the new Member States in Central and Eastern Europe and with a different methodology and category structure, were presented in a report finally published in 2008. In preparation for this report and the FEDORA Congress in Vilnius [internal link] as well as the FEDORA Charter [internal link], a symposium was held 9 - 10 February 2006 in Krakow, Poland.  This was organised by the EC together with the Educational Guidance Working Group. Experts from the European Commission, CEDEFOP (European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training) and the EUA (European University Association) as well as representatives of the four FEDORA working groups enriched the discussion.

The results of the congress in Vilnius [internal link] and the symposium in Krakow in turn led to the development of the "FEDORA Charter on Guidance and Counselling within the European Higher Education Area" published in 2007.

5 Collaboration with other organizations

One significant sign of the effectiveness of FEDORA in the context of European higher education guidance was the extensive mutual networking with other organisations and experts. This is reflected in the FEDORA newsletters and in the congress reports. FEDORA was committed to supporting the various enlargement processes of the EC/EU in the field of higher education guidance.

Even the early development and history of FEDORA would not have been possible without integration into these far-reaching networks (see sections 1.1. and 1.2. [internal link]). The following types of collaborations between individual FEDORA members or groups with external organisations and institutions can be identified:

a)  participation in various national conferences/projects in the field of university guidance and counselling or specialist professional contexts.

b) special participation in European or international conferences/symposia with FEDORA contributions (e.g. symposia, cf. 4.3) 

c) co-operation with other similar European and international organisations with overlapping areas of interest

d) co-operation with large institutional associations or political organisations e.g. the European Commission and its relevant departments

In addition to the direct co-operation of external organisations in the founding process of FEDORA, the UNESCO-CEPES-IRTAC conference in Bordeaux in 1993 was an important prelude to mutual professional cross-fertilization and personal acquaintance and cooperative networking.

In order to explain the scope and significance of this co-operation, some of them are mentioned below in chronological order.

An early example of such co-operation at national level is, for example, an event organised by RUI together with the Lombardy Region under the auspices of FEDORA for all those involved in guidance inside and outside the university: EUROGIOVANI. A similar event exclusively for university counsellors and guidance professionals was held in Greece in 1991 in the form of a two-day symposium with the support of FEDORA.

In collaboration with the University of Camerino, FEDORA organised an event from 15 to 20 September 1992 to explore the possibility of training and the introduction of reciprocal internships to improve the European competence of HE guidance staff.  

Similarly, the Faculty of Psychology and Education of the University of Coimbra, in cooperation with FEDORA, held a conference on the international exchange of professional experience of theory and practice from 26 to 29 September 1996 with the aim of improving HE guidance services in Portugal.

From 28 to 29 September 1995, the Federal Ministry of Science, Transport and the Arts in Vienna organised a symposium entitled "Student Guidance and Counselling in Austria" to improve contacts and cooperation between staff of the various guidance and counselling institutions at Austrian and European level. In addition to the European Commission and its Directorate-General XXII, the symposium was supported by FEDORA.

In 1995 Joachim Klaus as President represented FEDORA at the AGCAS Biennial Conference, 5-8 September in Lancaster, United Kingdom, where Margaret Dane, Director of the Careers Advisory Service at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh and a well-known member of FEDORA was elected President of AGCAS.  AGCAS (Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services) is the UK organisation for higher education careers advisory and guidance professionals the UK.

In 1997 Gerhart Rott contributed to a "Study Day" on the theme of "Psychological Counselling in Higher Education – Luxury or Necessity?" on 24 September at the Catholic University of Leuven with his presentation on "Student and Study Counselling: A European Panorama" with respect to FEDORA.  

The president of FEDORA, Joachim Klaus, accepted the invitation to attend the Bologna Conference in June 1999. This conference led to the Bologna Declaration of 19 June 1999 [link to Bologna Process entry in Wikipedia]. He also participated in the "F 2000 – European Higher Education Experts Forum" in Brussels. These contributions strengthened the links to the relevant European platforms for higher education development. This expansion of links with international and European organisations in the field of higher education development led to to an intensification of contacts within and outside UNESCO that had already existed at an early stage. Joachim Klaus contributed to the guidelines "The Role of Student Affairs and Services in Higher Education". It was published as the "Practical Manual for Developing, Implementing, and Assessing Student Affairs Programmes and Services" by Roger Ludeman, Chairman of the International Association of Student Affairs and Services Professionals (IASAS), in September 2000 in cooperation with UNESCO. This guide was closely linked to the follow-up discussions on the World Declaration on Higher Education (WDHE) adopted by UNESCO in 1998.   FEDORA was invited as an observer to the 7th UNESCO Collective Consultation.

Mr. Komlavi Seddoh, Director of the Higher Education Division of UNESCO, was the keynote speaker at the FEDORA Summer University in Paris [internal link to the Summer University 2001 in Paris]. In 2003, Margaret Dane and Gerhart Rott were invited to the 8th UNESCO NGO Collective Consultation on Higher Education in Paris, where they expressed their intention to collaborate as an NGO with UNESCO. In addition to the opportunity to further represent FEDORA in this context, there were many opportunities for further networking with numerous international organizations. Gerhart Rott participated in Commission II "The Contribution of Higher Education to Sustainable Development" with a contribution focussing on course design and university guidance provision. In 2004, FEDORA was also invited to the UNESCO Colloquium on Higher Education. In 2005, FEDORA participated in the 9th Collective Consultation UNESCO/NGO on Higher Education. Louis De Vos and Gerhart Rott attended the workshop "Higher Education and Globalisation". Karine Brutin participated in the working group "Transborder Education – Education without Borders". At the 9th Colloquium, the motion of the FEDORA President, Gerhart Rott, was unanimously accepted to allow the university advisory staff to participate equally in the evolution of the university. Gerhart Rott met several times with Prof. George Haddad, the Director of the UNESCO division of Higher Education, to discuss substantive and structural problems of the cooperation. Also in 2005, FEDORA received the status of an "NGO in operational relations with UNESCO".   FEDORA’s first invitation to the UNESCO NGO Assembly was accepted by Ernst Frank, the then coordinator of PSYCHE. Gerhart Rott accepted the invitation to participate in the UNESCO Forum on Higher Education, Research and Knowledge – Colloquium on Research and Higher Education Policy from 29 November to 1 December 2006.

FEDORA also established a closer working relationship with the European University Association (EUA). FEDORA Board members met with then-Deputy Secretary General Andrée Sursock and Senior Programme Manager David Crosier on several occasions to discuss higher education and advisory issues.   In 2005, Gerhart Rott represented FEDORA at the 3rd EUA Convention of European Higher Education Institutions Strong Universities for Europe, Glasgow, 31 March -2 April 2005.

Similarly, FEDORA updated and strengthened its links with the European Commission, in part to prepare for the participation of Ján Figel, Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Multilingualism, in the FEDORA Congress in Vilnius in 2006.

From 4-8 October 2003, Margaret Dane and Gerhart Rott participated in the OECD Conference "Career Guidance and Public Policy: Bridging the Gap" in Toronto, both in their capacity as FEDORA President and Vice President and as national delegates representing their respective countries (UK and Germany). Closely related to this were the invitations of Gerhart Rott to the Third International Symposium on Career Development and Public Policy 21 – 24 April 2006 in Sydney where he represented FEDORA and, in the context of his participation in the ELGPN, to the 6th International Symposium on Career Development and Public Policy in Budapest. In Sydney 2006 Gerhart Rott gave a paper on "FEDORA’s contribution to the European Higher Education Area".

On the basis of this international network, Gordon Clark of the European Commission suggested during a conference in Jyväskylä that FEDORA be designated as a relevant specialist group for a new lifelong guidance and counselling network to be established. On behalf of FEDORA, Gerhart Rott participated in the further founding process and later represented FEDORA in the established network of Member States and selected relevant networks, the European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network (ELGPN). Gerhart Rott was particularly involved in the area of Career Management Skills (CMS) and the corresponding work package and supported the reflections on higher education and the importance of university guidance as well as course design in the context of lifelong guidance. After the merger [internal link] with the EAIE, the latter commissioned Gerhart Rott to continue his contribution to the work of the ELGPN on its behalf.

Members represented FEDORA in many other European and national conferences at the beginning of the new century – see notes by Margaret Dane in her President's report and Gerhart Rott in his President's report. In addition, members of the various working groups participated in relevant national and international conferences, e.g. the FEDORA Disability/ Special Needs working group contributed to the "Sixth International Conference on Higher Education and Disability" in Austria in July 2007. Gerhart Rott also participated in other scientific European or international conferences on higher education e.g. at the EERA (European Educational Research Association) in Hamburg in 2003, the conference "Orientamento scolastico e orientamento universitario" of the National Resource Centre for Vocational Guidance at the Fondazione IDIS - Città della Scienza in Naples in 2003 and the conference "Higher Education and the Needs of the Labour Market in the European Union", 9 March 2006, in Budapest. Furthermore, he gave the lecture "Taking Stock of Guidance and Counselling Facilities in European Higher Education" at the "Bologna Process Best Practices Conference" of the European student association AEGEE in Niš, Serbia on 8-11 May 2006. He was invited to the XI Annual Conference of the EAC [additional link to corresponding Wikipedia pages] "Counselling in Europe Theory, Research, Practice" to give a keynote lecture on "The Interplay of the Inner and Outer World – Revisited in Educational Settings" in addition to holding a workshop. He also contributed to the scientific conference "The Transformation of Higher Education: International Influences".

The closer cooperation agreed or renewed with similar organisations, in particular with the European Association for International Education (EAIE) and the International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance (IAEVG), was underlined by reciprocal conference visits. Vice-President Per Andersen attended the EAIE meeting in Basel and Gerhart Rott attended the AIOSP/IAVEG meeting in Lisbon. Under the presidency of Hans-Werner Rückert, the link with the EEA was reactivated.

6 The merger with EAIE

Under the presidency of Christian Cormier, University of Poitiers, the FEDORA Board and the EC focused on internal communication and administration as well as the preparations for FEDORA events. The EC also confirmed FEDORA’s bilingualism (French/English) to be available in publications, at meetings and on the website, particularly in light of the new candidate countries in Central and Eastern Europe, where English was rapidly becoming an important conference language. Based on the intensive discussions about administrative and related challenges, it was decided at the FEDORA Congress in Berlin in 2009 to seek a merger with the EAIE. Under the presidency of Hans-Werner Rückert, Freie Universität Berlin, this was implemented step by step. In 2010, FEDORA merged with the EAIE, a larger organisation with a number of overlapping areas of interest. In some cases, its working groups merged with thematically similar working groups of EIAE. The FEDORA Career Guidance & Employment Group joined the EAIE Professional Section “Emploi”, later changed to Expert Community "Employability".  The FEDORA Disability, Special Needs WG first joined the EAIE Special Interest Group "Access" then "Access and Diversity" and was finally renamed the Expert Community "Inclusion and Diversity" in 2020. The FEDORA Educational Guidance & Counselling WG was initially included within the Professional Group SAFSA and later in the Expert Community "Guidance and Counselling". Initially, the PSYCHE WG continued independently as a Professional Section. Later, it too was included in the Expert Community "Guidance and Counselling".

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