On November 19, 2020, a conference of the Ministers of Education of the members of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) was held. The organizer is the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research. The conference was attended by more than 3,000 participants, ministers of education from 47 countries spoke.

The conference was attended by 48 ministers of higher education, the Council of Europe, the European Commission, UNESCO, EURASHE (European Association of Higher Education Institutions), ESU (European Student Union), EUA (European University Association), EQAR (European Register of Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education) other.

Kazakhstan was represented by a delegation headed by the Minister of Education and Science A.K. Aimagambetov.

The leaders of higher education in the European space meet every 2-3 years to assess the progress made within the framework of the EHEA. Due to the current situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting was held online for the first time. The live broadcast of the event, at the link https://ehea2020rome.it, was available to everyone.

Sjur Bergan spoke on behalf of the Council of Europe and noted that our society should not only be educated, but also should be able to use the education received in practice.

The Communiqué prepared for this conference proposes to further develop higher education systems until 2030 to concentrate on three new areas:

- Inclusive. Each student will have equal access to higher education and receive comprehensive support in completing their education and training.

- Innovative. Introduce new and more consistent teaching, teaching and assessment methods and practices closely related to research.

- Interconnected. The common framework and tools will continue to facilitate and enhance international cooperation and reform, knowledge exchange and staff and student mobility.

Considering that “academic freedom is an integral aspect of quality learning, teaching and research in higher education”, the Academic Freedom Statement was adopted.

Participants also welcomed San Marino as a new member of the EHEA, which became the 49th participating country. San Marino will be supported in meeting commitments in accordance with the agreed roadmap.

Given that “the social dimension should be central to higher education strategies at the systemic and institutional level, as well as at the EHEA and EU levels”, a new document “Principles and Recommendations for Strengthening the Social Dimension of Higher Education in the EHEA” is proposed.

The conference participants noted: “We are looking forward to 2030 with determination and optimism, confident that we will be able to forge more effective cooperation and closer dialogue between our countries, our higher education systems and institutions of higher education, as well as with the wider community of higher education. "

Also, "Recommendations for support / action at the national / state level to improve learning and teaching in the higher education system in the EHEA" were developed and proposed to the ministers of education.

Albania has been invited to host the next EHEA Ministerial Conference and Global Policy Forum in 2024.

At the conference within the framework of the Global Policy Forum, the participants noted the possibility of implementing virtual mobility, namely, what measures can be taken to accelerate the development of this type of mobility. Two main measures were proposed:

1. It is necessary to “learn from others”, make the most of the exchange of best practices.

2. Institutions should develop their resources and cooperation with other higher education institutions.

During the conference, the ministers of education discussed the proposed documents and determined the vectors for the development of higher education in the EHEA countries for the next 10 years.