Mobilizing the strengths and insights of diverse TE stakeholders within the space of greening tertiary education, this panel discussion aims to delve deeper into: 

• the different roles and potentials of Tertiary Education in promoting the achievement of all the SDGs with an emphasis on environmental sustainability and social responsibility. 

• the role of quality assurance in ensuring that TEIs uphold their commitment to sustainability and social responsibility. 

• challenges, good practices, and actions forward in greening tertiary education carried out by diverse TE stakeholders with mandate in tertiary education: IQA, EQA, students, regulators and international bodies. 

​Panelists:

Dr. Francesc Pedró

Francesc Pedró is since May 2019 the Director of the UNESCO Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean. He joined UNESCO’s education sector in Paris (France) in 2010, where he led the team of education policy, providing technical assistance to UNESCO Member States by reviewing their normative frameworks and lifelong education policies upon request to ensure alignment with SDG 4-Education 2030, and contributing to knowledge dissemination through international comparative analyses. From 2005 to 2011 he worked at the OECD Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI). He is a professor of public policies in education at the Pompeu Fabra University (Barcelona).

Prof. Olusola Bandele, OYEWOLE

Professor Olusola Oyewole is the Secretary-General of the Association of African Universities, Accra, Ghana. He was the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta from May 2012 to May 2017. He has over thirty-eight years’ experience in the African Higher education system. He has served as a Senior Expert at the African Union Commission in Ethiopia, Addis-Ababa. Prof. Oyewole was the Coordinator of the British Government sponsored project on the “Mobilization of Regional Initiatives for the revitalization of higher education in Africa”, at the Association of African Universities (AAU), Accra, Ghana, from 2007 to 2009.He has also served as the Project Officer of the World Bank project on “Quality Assurance for African Higher Education systems” at the AAU (2006 – 2009). Olusola Oyewole interests in higher education include Quality assurance, Leadership and Management, Research, Development, and Innovations, among others.

Horia Onița

Horia is the Vice President of the European Students Union. He has been active in the student movement for over eight years serving as the National Alliance of Student Organisations in Romania (ANOSR) Vice President for Educational Policies, coordinating portfolios such as Quality Assurance and Bologna Process Implementation. Horia was also elected president of ANOSR for two years before his involvement in ESU. Some of Horia’s background accomplishments include adopting a national School Student Rights Charter in Romania and expanding investment in social infrastructure in universities.

Horia works at ESU on Quality Assurance of Higher Education in Europe, represents ESU as co-chair of the Bologna Follow-Up Group (BFUG) Working Group on Social Dimension, and follows EU developments on education funding and monitoring through National Recovery and Resilience Plans and the European Semester. He holds a Bachelor of Law and a Master of Public Procurement degree from the University of Bucharest.

Marioara DOBRESCU

As a counsellor in the General Directorate for Higher Education, she is a full member within the Commission's EEA Strategic Framework Working Group on Higher Education (WGHE- code number E03799) also she was a full member and cochair of the Taskforce 1 of the Commission's Expert Group on Graduate Tracking and suppliant member within ET 2020 Working Group on the Modernisation of Higher Education. With a career spanning over 6 years within higher education system, as an international relations officer at the university level with a large variety of attributions from key contact  officer of the university with different international agencies/authorities, to organizing all sort  of important events and offering consultancy and advisory for international students, teachers and researches. Holds a Postdoctoral certificate „Applied Biotechnology with Impact in the Romanian Bioeconomics” (2013), PhD in Agronomy – Genetics and Plant Breeding – (2011), MSc of Agriculture - Plant breeding and seed quality control (2005), BSc of Biology and Agricultural Sciences, University degree (2003) all of them at the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca.

Renato Bartet

Executive Secretary of the National Accreditation Commission (CNA Chile).

Chaired by:

Dr. Simona Lache

Simona Lache is member of the Institutional Commission of the Romanian Agency of Quality assurance in Higher Education (ARACIS) and professor at Transilvania University of Brasov, Romania. Since 2008 she has held the position of vice-rector for quality evaluation and, since 2012, also for internationalization.

Simona has a Bachelor degree in Precision Mechanics (1991), an European Master degree in Energy Management and Mechanical Engineering (1995) and a Doctoral degree in Mechanical Engineering, at Transilvania University of Brasov.

She has an extensive expertise in quality assurance of higher education, gained as ARACIS expert evaluator (since 2007) and director of the Accreditation Department (2015-2023), as well as from the different positions held at international level: IEP-EUA reviewer (since 2012) and member of the Steering Committee (since 2019); international reviewer for ENQA (since 2018) and some other quality assurance agencies, member of the Label Committee of ENAEE (2015-2023).

Since 2021 she has been member of the CEENQA Board and the Board of Directors of INQAAHE, actively involved in both networks’ activities.

If you have any question about the event, please do not hesitate to contact INQAAHE and/or the Forum host, ARACIS.