Launch of UNESCO HE Policy Observatory for Europe and North America 

Earlier in May, the UNESCO International Institute for Higher Education (IESALC) organized the second launch webinar for the Higher Education Policy Observatory with a focus on the Europe and North America region. This event also featured a high-level policy panel discussion on the role and uses of data in guiding higher education policy.  

The HE Policy Observatory is an online platform that provides key baseline information on higher education systems and policies across 146 countries. Users can freely and easily access detailed country profiles, compare higher education policies across different countries, and visualize global trends. 

The HE Policy Observatory is expected to continuously evolve as UNESCO IESALC closely monitors new legislations and reforms of higher education systems happening worldwide to integrate them on the portal. In addition, new countries are currently being examined for inclusion in the Observatory. Lastly, UNESCO IESALC is collaborating with the UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS) to develop and integrate new data visualizations based on the main statistics collected internationally around HE. 

The webinar featured a high-level panel moderated by Victoria Galán-Muros, Chief of Research and Analysis at the Institute. Two prominent policymakers from the Europe and North America region joined the discussion: Chiara Finocchietti, Director of CIMEA-NARIC Italia and President of ENIC-NARIC Networks in Europe, and Rajeev Darolia, Chief Economist at the US Department of Education.  

The panelists highlighted the critical importance of internationally standardized data to inform policymaking and facilitate international collaboration. More specifically, they underlined:  

• The key role of platforms like the HE Policy Observatory to open new opportunities for cross-border dialogue and build a common language around higher education policy by centralizing, systematizing and making data comparable across countries; 
• The power of visualizations to raise policymakers’ awareness about key trends and challenges in higher education internationally. Panelists also called for making data accessible to policymakers and stakeholders through clear visuals and transparent methodologies;  
• The need to integrate information from a variety of sources into a single platform, or to cross-reference different platforms, to support decision-making in higher education. From the perspectives of policymakers, this can substantially reduce the costs of searching for information on other higher education systems. 

The panel also delved into the challenges related to the use of data to design and implement higher education policy. Rajeev Darolia emphasized that data collection and dissemination are only the first steps; there is still a need to build capacity among policymakers and bridges with research to ensure the appropriate use of data. Chiara Finocchietti highlighted the central role of data in operating artificial intelligence. She stressed the need to raise policymakers’ awareness about the value of transparent and reliable data to ensure it is used effectively to serve higher education systems, citizens and societies. 

Looking ahead, panelists agreed that there is still significant potential for improved international data collection and use in higher education. Enhanced efforts could be deployed to monitor aspects such as cross-border mobility outcomes, refugees’ access to higher education and the recognition of their qualifications. Another promising approach is to centralize the results from evaluations of programs and policies to help policymakers identify effective strategies to address specific challenges in different contexts. International repositories like the HE Policy Observatory could serve as meta-platform, making these more accessible to policymakers and researchers globally. 

Watch the full recording of the webinar in the video below:

More information on the HE Policy Observatory and UNESCO IESALC’s umbrella programme on higher education policy, the Policy Hub, can be found here.