Japan-Nordic Symposium

On the Frontier of University Evaluation-Making the Most of Nordic Successes-

Welcome Addresses

Tsutomu Kimura

President, NIAD-UE

Thodur Aegil Oskarsson

Ambassador of Iceland〔Host: Toshio KatoDirector, Department of University Evaluation, NIAD-UE〕

13Kato: I would now like to begin the proceedings of the Japan-Nordic Symposium, “On
the Frontier of University Evaluation—Making the Most of Nordic Successes.”
My name is Kato, Director of the Department of University Evaluation at the National
Institution for Academic Degrees and University Evaluation. I will serve as your MC fortoday.
The schedule for today is outlined in the program that has been distributed with othermaterials for this Symposium. If you are missing any materials, please make yourself
known to any member of staff.
Among the materials in front of you is a questionnaire sheet. Feedback obtained
through this questionnaire will help us in planning future symposia. We would
appreciate your cooperation in completing your questionnaire sheet and returning it tostaff as you exit the venue upon completion of today’s proceedings. Alternatively, you
can place it in the box located at reception on the second floor.
Kato: First of all, I would like to invite the President of the National Institution for
Academic Degrees and University Evaluation, Tsutomu Kimura, to make some opening
remarks.
Kimura:It is a great pleasure and honor for me to have this opportunity to say a few

words at the beginning of this very memorable event, the Japan-Nordic Symposium, On
the Frontier of University Evaluation, subtitled as “Making the Most of Nordic
Successes.”
First of all, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Norwegian Ambassador
Åge Bernhard Grutle and Icelandic Ambassador Thordur Aegir Oskarsson and DanishAmbassador Freddy Svane for their participation. Your presence certainly graces thisimportant event to a great extent.
I also would like to express my deep thanks to our distinguished guests from Nordic
countries—Professor of UMB, Chair of NOKUT’s Board, Norway, Dr. Abrahamsen;
Deputy Director General, NOKUT, Norway, Ms. Holmen; Director, Department ofEducation, Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, Iceland, Dr. Jensdóttir;
Executive Director, EVA, Denmark, Dr. Thune; Secretary General, FINHEEC, Finland,15

Dr. Tuomi, and; Senior Advisor, National Agency for Higher Education, Sweden, Mr.
Wahlén—who have flown a long, long way to attend this symposium.
From the Japanese side we also have distinguished guests: Dr. Kajiyama, President,Kyushu University; Mr. Isoda, Deputy Director-General, Higher Education Bureau,
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT); Prof. Kudo,Vice-President, Keio University; Ms. Kawamura, Executive Director, Institute of
National Colleges of Technology, and; Mr. Shimizu, Editorial Writer, The Asahi

Shimbun. Now I would like to show my thanks for their participation.
To our knowledge, Nordic countries started higher education reform in the 1980s and in
the year 2000 the external evaluation system was established firmly. In order to learn
the outcome of this positive attitude, as many as 277 Japanese universities have signed
up some sort of cooperation agreement with universities in Nordic countries.
In an attempt to raise the quality and increase the international competitiveness ofhigher education in the region, Nordic countries founded a network called NOQA, which
stands for Nordic Quality Assurance Network in Higher Education, completely separate
from ENQA, which covers the whole European region. We are extremely impressed withthis effort and solidarity of Nordic countries. Our observation as a member of APQN,
Asia-Pacific Quality Network, is that there are so many things to learn fromexperiences in Nordic efforts. This is the reason why we thought we should organise thisparticular symposium in Tokyo at this time. I really don’t know if our side has anything
to offer to the Nordic side, but my sincere hope is that the symposium will contribute to
the enhancement of the quality of higher education in both regions.
The symposium starts off with a keynote lecture by Dr. Christian Thune, Executive
Director, EVA in Denmark, followed by presentations from Nordic countries by
distinguished speakers in each country. Then we will have two panel discussion
sessions. For these two panel discussion sessions we welcome active input from theaudience.
Finally, I express my sincere appreciation to the Japanese Ministry of Education,
Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, The Asahi Shimbun, and Embassies of Nordic
countries in Tokyo which enable us to organize this wonderful symposium. Let meconclude my opening remark by praying for great success of this symposium. Thank you16

very much indeed for your attention.
Kato: Thank you very much.
Next, I would like to invite the Ambassador of Iceland to Japan, His Excellency Thordur
Aegir Oskarsson, to speak on behalf of the five Nordic countries. Ambassador Oskarsson,
the floor is yours.
Thordur Aegir Oskarsson: Prof. Kimura, President of the National Institution for
Academic Degrees and University Evaluation, representatives and colleagues from theNordic countries, representatives from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture,Sports and Technology, representatives from The Asahi Shimbun, distinguishedparticipants, it is both an honor and pleasure to address you on behalf of the Embassies
of Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Iceland on the occasion of this symposium
dealing with a very important topic for modern societies: quality assurances of highereducation.
The world community has in recent times been undergoing a globalization on a scale
never experienced before in the history of mankind. The process has manifested itself
mostly in industry and business. At the same time it has greatly influenced our societies
and social life in general. This has had a profound impact on education in particular as
one can argue that globalization is driven to a large extent by information business, ofwhich education, research and innovation are important components. That in turnproduces challenging demands on the educational system in order to sustain thisprogress.
Governments are now trying to meet increased competition on a global level by placing
the onus of policy on education to produce the human capital most relevant to the globalcompetition, which seems to have insatiable need for knowledge and information. Thisemphasis has highlighted and increased the importance of universities, as well as otherhigher education institution, as these are at the center of knowledge and innovation forsocieties´ most important sectors.
The rapid process of globalization shows no mercy to those that fall behind. Competitionin the future will be increasingly about the ability to innovate and produce
value-creating solutions that are difficult for others to copy. This will require the17establishment and perserverance of a strong and innovate culture and ability to use
one´s own core skills. So in order to be successful at the global level, you also have toenjoy the same success on the local level. It is here that the quality of the educational
system comes to play.
One of the major factors explaining the success of the Nordic countries in the modern
world is without doubt the level and quality of education that the citizens of these five
relatively small countries enjoy. The Nordic countries have developed social andeconomic systems that have created one of the most affluent regions in the world, where
the five countries constantly rank among the top ten in international comparisons inareas like welfare, competitiveness, technological level and creativity, to name a few
indicators.
The internationalization of the education system in the Nordic countries is not a newphenomena, since these countries have long and tested cooperation in the field of higher
education that has resulted in an extensive system of mutual recognition of conditionsof access and results at the university level. The cooperation in this context of Nordic
quality assurance had already started in 1992 when the relevant organizations began
exchanging views and experiences on developments in evaluation and quality
assurances in higher education.
As I indicated before, in the order to be able to meet the demands of the globalized world,
no one can rest on the laurels of past and present achievements. It is how you meet thechallenges of the future that counts. All of the Nordic countries have already or are in
the process of reviewing their legal framework for the level of higher education in order
to be better able to adjust to and meet the new international challenges and policies
facing education, while safeguarding quality.
The political leaders of the five Nordic countries are deeply aware of these newchallenges. And as to higher education, the Nordic ministers of education issued aspecial declaration on 9 June 2004 in Reykjavik, Iceland, where they emphasized theimportance of more intensive work for mutual recognition and assurances of quality ofthe education offered at the university level in the Nordic countries.
It is not only in the Nordic countries but in Europe in general that the focus on qualityof higher education has been moved to the forefront. A critical factor was the18establishment of the Bologna Process established in 1999, now including 45 Europeanstates. Commitments under this process are not binding but the political aim is tocreate a pan-European educational system by 2010. This was underlined by theconclusion of the ministers of education of the Bologna member states at a meeting inBergen in Norway 2005.
It is our hope that this symposium will result in further cooperation and coordination
between the Nordic countries and Japan as to quality assurances and enhancement ofquality at the level of higher education. Although our embassies can never claim to haveany expertise in this field, the issue is important for our daily activities. There is astrong and growing interest for Japan in our countries and that is reflected in thenumber of inquiries that we get from students and also academic institutions lookingfor cooperation partners. We have witnessed the same interest here in Japan for theNordic countries. In this context, it is therefore very important for the embassy staff tobe able to provide basic information in this regard, being assured that the propermechanisms for the evaluation of the educational quality are in place.
We therefore heartily welcome the initiative of the National Institution for AcademicDegrees and University Evaluation to hold this Japan-Nordic Symposium on university
evaluation and wish it every success. Thank you very much.

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