Bringing the SDGs into higher education quality assurance and quality enhancement systems is the ambition of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education in Andorra (AQUA) – a pioneering agency that has seen the importance of supporting quality-led pathways for embedding sustainable development in higher education.
In 2017, AQUA commissioned the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona – Group COMPLEX to conduct a study to identify quality assessment standards with a sustainable development perspective based on the standards for quality assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG).
This study was followed-up by a project co-funded by the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) that seeks to define a list of quality indicators to embed the SDGs into institutional evaluation. The project, coordinated by AQUA in collaboration with the Aragon Agency for Quality Assurance and Strategic Foresight in Higher Education (ACPUA – Spain), has involved an international advisory board and the participation of students, academic staff, support and administrative staff, alumni, employees, external sustainability experts, quality agencies and government bodies from both territories. These stakeholders gathered in two forums with the aim of sharing a common ground of quality and sustainability in higher education and design and implement initiatives that connect quality processes and the SDGs. The final report of this innovative project and the proposal of indicators will be published at the end of May 2019.
► More information about the INQAAHE-funded project
Download the AQUA–COMPLEX research study
