@article{BAYLINA_VILLANUEVA_2021, title={CHALLENGES, EXPECTATIONS AND REALITY: THE ADAPTATION OF A GEOGRAPHY DEGREE TO THE EUROPEAN HIGHER EDUCATION ARE}, volume={2}, url={https://eurogeojournal.eu/index.php/egj/article/view/32}, abstractNote={<p>After the Sorbonne Declaration, the idea of a European Higher Education Area was launched, <br>and universities have been pushed into a restructuring process with a strong emphasis on <br>quality and excellence. In Spain, the focus on graduate employability impelled academics and <br>professionals towards the formulation of a White Book on the state and the future of <br>Geography in Higher Education (2004). This has been a useful tool concerning the general <br>debate on the design of new university degrees within European regulations. This was the <br>case at the department of Geography at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), <br>where a three-year pilot program was undertaken, aiming to test the Bologna system before <br>setting up and validating the new degrees. The outcomes of the White Book and of the pilot <br>experience, proved to be very useful. The academic year 2009-10 began with a new Bachelors <br>degree course in Geography and Regional Planning, a Spanish adaptation to European <br>(Bologna) regulations. Although the short time that has elapsed since then makes it difficult to <br>undertake a full evaluation of the process and reflect on its outcomes and impacts, the whole <br>issue of reform is raising controversy leading to the reluctance to initiate further change, due <br>mainly to the lack of internal debate about the process of change that apparently seems to be a <br>response to global economic demands rather than academic ones. This paper analyzes the <br>impact of the process in Spain, and specifically, in the Geography degree at UAB.</p>}, number={1}, journal={European Journal of Geography}, author={BAYLINA, Mireia and VILLANUEVA , Maria}, year={2021}, month={Oct.} }