This paper contributes to the theoretical debate over a global upsurge in higher education (HE) regionalisms which pursue different region-building processes and create policy spaces beyond national boundaries. Focusing on the Nordic countries, the paper studies parallel processes of intra-Nordic and European HE and research cooperation. Although…

Purpose: Social sustainability is a concept frequently referred to in public debates concerning how to construct the governance of future societies. The interpretations of its meaning, however, are ambiguous, and practices often dubious. Confronting top-down technocratic governance structures, this paper aims to argue for for tripartite…

Intergovernmental regional cooperation is one of the defining characteristics of political Europe. This article investigates it in the area of higher education and research. Specifically it explores what types of intergovernmental regional alliances exist and to what extent their member countries coordinate their higher education and research…

Identifying three "modes of policy legitimation" in education, illustrated by shifts in Swedish educational assessment and grading policies over the past decades, the paper demonstrates significant trends with regard to national governments' policymaking and borrowing. We observe a shift away from "collaboracy" -- defined as…

In the past decade, the number of EU policy activities in research and higher education has increased greatly. The governance processes in these areas are increasingly characterized as multilayered, involving actors with a variety of roles, functions and loyalties. This article focuses on the forces shaping the policy positions and strategies of…

In this paper we will address the impact of Europeanisation on national curriculum reforms with empirical reference to the Swedish compulsory school, and based on the concept of competence discuss the question of transnational curriculum convergence. The main interest is directed towards how the answers to the question of what counts as knowledge…

The article presents different models of comparative education by discussing the government committee reports (SOU) which prepared the Swedish teacher education reforms of 2001 and 2011. These serve as examples for different kinds of policy borrowing from an international Bologna process discourse in national government document. The article…

This article focuses on coordination between governance actors in a public university. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate and analyze policy documents as governance tools that allow departmental management to coordinate with the authorities, the board, and the management at different university levels. A central finding is that the…

This study, jointly conducted by the University of Warwick Institute for Employment Research (IER) and SQW Ltd., discusses the UK Government's intention to accelerate the process of ceding more responsibility for delivering a range of services to the local level. The logic is that local actors are better placed to identify local priorities. This…

This article presents a case study of the internationalisation of an Engineering School at a leading Swedish University. The case study is an attempt to sketch out a more qualitative analytical approach to the study of internationalisation, focusing on the interplay between agency and structure and policy and practice as constructed by actors on…

This document contains a synthesis paper and four case studies of cooperation with the world of work in vocational and technical education (VTE) in Hungary, Romania, Russia, and Sweden. "Synthesis" (R. Barry Hobart) considers the common social and economic variables affecting VTE in the four study countries. The three case studies…

A tribute to Eskil Bjorklund is presented at his retirement as director of Sweden's Research on Higher Education Program at the National Board of Universities and Colleges. Bjorklund's work over the years is best seen in several accomplishments. He completely recast the program's mission and central contribution to public policy and higher…

An overview is provided of the development of national planning and the centralization of research libraries in four countries: Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Included in the review are cooperative projects and the actions of government and/or library commissions in each country. Planning at the local level and inter-Scandinavian efforts…

Reports on recent developments and problems in the diversification of tertiary education in seven Western European countries are presented by members of the Working Party on the Diversification of Tertiary Education. Policy analysis and evaluation and recommendations for future policy are also provided. As a policy, diversification refers to the…

This volume contains the following presentations: "An Overview of Policy Issues," by Donald Galvin; "Policies for the Employment of Disabled People,' by Norman Acton; "A Corporate Perspective," by Jane Belau; "The Future of Work for People with Disabilities--A View from Great Britain," by Paul Cornes; "A…