AECEF NEWSLETTER 2/2001

AECEF NEWSLETTER 2/2001

SOCRATES – ERASMUS Thematic Network EUCEET
The Third EUCEET General Assembly and the EUCEET-ECCE Conference,
Sinaia 13-17 July 2001

by Professor Iacint Manoliu
Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest
Secretary-General of the EUCEET
Steering Committee
AECEF Board Member

In the AECEF Newsletter 1/2001, a State-of-the art of the EUCEET Project in the period April 2000-april 2001 was included.

In what follows, a brief presentation is made on the main event which took place in the third and last year of the project: the third EUCEET General Assembly which held between 13-17 July 2001 in Sinaia, Romania, which included the EUCEET-ECCE Conference ”Challenges to the civil engineering profession in Europe at the beginning of the new millennium” (13-15 July, 2001). ECCE stands for European Council of Civil Engineers, a London – based organization grouping the National associations of civil engineers from most European countries.

Let’s begin with information on EUCEET-ECCE Conference, regarded as a unique forum for discussions among persons interested in European Civil Engineering profession from the various stakeholder communities: academia, professional world, industry, government, representing both institutions partners and non-partners in the network EUCEET.

The expectations were entirely met. 105 delegates from 22 countries attended the Conference, hosted by the ”Casino”, a splendid example of the early 20^th century architecture.

After an opening address by Professor Iacint Manoliu, Chairman of the Organizing Committee, the delegates were greeted by Prof. Petre Pătruţ, Rector of the Technical University of Civil Engineering of Bucharest, Dr. Traian Ispas, Vice-President of the Union of Associations of Civil Engineers of Romania, Prof. Antonio Adao da Fonseca, ECCE President, Prof. Radu Damian, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Education and Research and Ion Stănescu, Director General at the Ministry of Public Works, Transportation and Housing.

The technical programme of the Conference was very dense and interesting. Four keynote lectures have been presented:

Antonio Adao da Fonseca, ECCE President: ”The European Civil Engineer of the 21^st Century”
François-Gerard Baron, ECCE Vice President, EUCEET Working Group F Chairman: ”Challenge for the Civil Engineer in 2001: a World to Serve”
Alfredo Soiero, President of the International Association for Continuing Engineering Education: ”Latest Development in Continuing Engineering Education”
John Whitwell, former ECCE Secretary General: ”WTO GATS Registration & Mutual Recognition of Engineers”

Each of the sessions of the Conference comprised a General report prepared by a corresponding Working Group of EUCEET, one or several theme lectures and the presentation of a number of selected papers.

Here are the names of the sessions with the theme lectures associated:

Session I: Demands of the Economic and Professional Environments in Respect to Civil Engineering Education

Derek Pollock, Halcrow Group Ltd, UK: ”Professional Pressures in the Recruitment and Deployment of Civil Engineering Expertise in Europe; a Consultancy View”
Horea Sandi, Institute of Geodynamics ”Sabba Stefanescu” of the Romanian Academy: ”Education of Civil Engineers in View of Disaster Prevention. The Case of Earthquakes in Romania”

Session II: Continuous Professional Development in Civil Engineering

Amaury Legait, Roger Frank, Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussees: ”Enhancing the Role of the Universities in Continuing Engineering Education Activities: A Challenge at the Beginning of the 21st Century”

Session III: Trends in European Civil Engineering Education

Günter Heitmann, T.U. Berlin: ”The Implementation and Accreditation of Bachelor/Master Degree Courses in Germany”
Diego Lo Presti, Politecnico di Torino: ”Higher Education in Italy: the Transition Phase from Old to New System”
Carsten Ahrens, University of Applied Sciences Oldenburg: ”Modularizing European Civil Engineering Curricula”

Session IV: Synergies between University, Research, Industry and Public Authorities in the Construction Sector of Europe

Laurie Boswell, City University London: ”What European Universities Can Do for the Construction Sector”

Session V: Accreditation and Professional Recognition in Civil Engineering

Giuliano Augusti, University ”La Sapienza” Roma: ”Facilitating Recognition and Mobility in European Engineering Education”

After the closure of the Conference, activities of the EUCEET General Assembly continued for two more days. Comprehensive reports on the results obtained by the Working Groups D (”Postgraduate Programmes and Continuous Professional Development in European Civil Engineering Education”) and E (”Innovation in Teaching and Learning in Civil Engineering Education”) were presented.

The General Assembly concluded on 17^th July 2001 with the round table ”EUCEET I Conclusions and Perspectives for Future Cooperation” with Iacint Manoliu as moderator and Marie-Ange Cammarota, Laurie Boswell, David Lloyd Smith, Josef Machacek, Günter Heitmann and Giuliano Augusti as participants.

The proceedings of the Conference, to be published by the end of 2001, will represent another important outcome of the EUCEET project.

Very good news came on 12^th September 2001 from Brussels, announcing that the European Commission approved the one-year extension of EUCEET for dissemination purposes, starting 1^st October 2001 and ending 30^th September 2002.

The main goal of the Dissemination Project is to distribute the EUCEET outcomes and products to the entire civil engineering academic community in Europe as well as to the professional associations, public authorities, construction companies, and research centres a.s.o.

Envisaged outputs of the dissemination project are:

publication and dissemination of two new EUCEET volumes;

preparation and dissemination of two CD Roms;

publication of a comprehensive pamphlet for presentation of EUCEET objectives and outcomes;

organisation of three EUCEET Regional Fora, open to project partners and to new partners, in order to discuss matters concerning civil engineering education in Europe in the light of the EUCEET findings and of the transformations occurring in the European space of higher education;

presentations on EUCEET at councils, conferences and workshops to take place in 2001/2002, with both a national and/or a European character.

In order to finalize the work programme for the dissemination project, a meeting of the EUCEET Steering Committee took place in Paris, on 10^th November 2001, hosted by Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées. The representatives of ENPC Paris, AECEF, ECCE, Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest, Imperial College London, City University London, ETSICCP Madrid, ETSICCP Barcelona, INSA Lyon, TU Munich, TU Dresden, University of Beira Interior Covilha and Silesian University of Technology Gliwice attended the meeting.

The most important decisions concerned the content and the venues of the Three EUCEET Fora. Each Forum is foreseen as a one and a half-day Regional Conference, with attendance primarily from the host country. The format of such a conference, agreed upon in Paris, will include dissemination reports of the six EUCEET Working Groups, contributions from the participants, a Workshop on Recommendations and Conclusions of the three year project EUCEET and a Round table on the future of EUCEET actions.

The first EUCEET Forum with take place on 10-11 May 2002 in Madrid, as part of the events marking the 200^th anniversary of the foundation of Escuela Tecnico Superior de Canales, Caminos i Puertos Madrid.

The second EUCEET Forum is tentatively planned for 14-15 June 2002 in Gliwice, Poland and the third EUCEET Forum for 13-14 September 2002 in Munich.

Participants of the The Third EUCEET General Assembly and the EUCEET-ECCE
Conference, Sinaia 13-17 July 2001

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2002-01-25