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The European Knowledge Area
The European countries are in the middle of a process of far-reaching change, transforming a society based on an industrial economy to a society based on the production of knowledge and innovation. It is a process that affects the whole of society and involves the interdependence of four elements: the production of knowledge, based on scientific research; its transmission, through education and training; its dissemination, through information and communication technologies (ICT), and, finally, the use of knowledge and its entry into the market through innovation.
To turn these changes into an opportunity for progress and welfare, European institutions are working to build an economy that invests in training people and promotes everyone's participation in the knowledge society. This is the so-called Lisbon Strategy, proposed by the European Council in order to make Europe the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010.
The European Knowledge Area is, therefore, the result of the confluence of three areas that contribute to building this new economy committed to achieving a highly competitive level of innovation:
- A European Higher Education Area. This is the initial contribution
of universities to the Europe of knowledge. It stems from the Bologna
Declaration (1999), expressing the European desire to establish a common
higher education framework.
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A European Research Area. A European policy to strengthen lines of
research, to create large research infrastructures and to promote the free
circulation of knowledge and researchers contained in the Lisbon Declaration
(2000). .
- A European Information Area. The desire of the European Commission
is to create a single digital network making it possible to modernise
business production processes and increase the range of products and
services to consumers (i2005 communiqué).
The Office
for the European Area of Knowledge and International Promotion of the Catalan
Universities (OEEC-PI) of the Inter-university Council of Catalonia is responsible for coordinating actions relating to the European Higher Education Area, the European Research Area and the international development of the Catalan Universities. This office offers an information service on the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), a European
and international research projects service, and information on the participation of the Catalan University System in the Framework programmes.
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