As Europe’s higher education community convenes in St Julian’s on 13–14 October 2026, MFHEA leads a shared effort to protect the fundamental values that ensure quality, trust, and freedom in education
St Julian’s, Malta, 9 October. Who decides how a university is run? How much freedom should higher education institutions have to shape their academic, administrative, and financial affairs, and how can we protect, measure, and trust that autonomy? These questions will bring Europe’s higher education community to Malta this October, as The Marriott Hotel & Spa in St Julian’s hosts the Peer Learning Activity (PLA) on Institutional Autonomy on 13 October 2026, alongside the fifth meeting of the Bologna Follow-Up Group Working Group on Fundamental Values (WG FV) on 14 October.
Held in a hybrid format, the activity allows participants to join in person or online and puts one of the six fundamental values of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) firmly in the spotlight. Institutional autonomy is the ability of higher education institutions to make decisions about their internal organization and academic, administrative, and financial affairs within relevant legal and regulatory frameworks. It underpins trust, quality, and resilience across the sector, and is increasingly debated across Europe.
Malta at the centre of a European conversation
The Malta Further and Higher Education Authority (MFHEA) participates in the new Fundamental Values project (NewFAV2) and co-chairs the Working Group on Fundamental Values. Hosting this important activity reinforces Malta’s role in European-level discussions on fundamental values and in practical efforts to support their implementation across the EHEA.
This activity is part of the project New building blocks of the Bologna Process: implementing a common understanding of fundamental values (NewFAV 2). The project supports the commitments set out in the Tirana and Rome Communiqués and contributes to the 2024–2027 BFUG Working Group on Fundamental Values. Its aims are to develop a Technical Implementation Methodology for the monitoring framework, support implementation across the EHEA, and create an online platform to gather feedback and raise awareness and understanding of fundamental values among EHEA stakeholders.
One program, many perspectives
The agenda brings together voices from higher education institutions, students, quality assurance organizations, European-level bodies and the NewFAV 2 project. Proceedings will open with welcome and introductory remarks from Mr. James Perry Maia, CEO of the MFHEA, and Bianca Pace, Maltese Executive Committee Member of the European Students’ Union (ESU) and KSU alumna. The Co-Chairs of the Working Group on Fundamental Values will then introduce the day’s discussions, followed by a tour de table with participants.
“Today, our focus is institutional autonomy. But we need to consider it alongside other fundamental values: academic freedom, academic integrity, among others.
These values support one another, and together, they create the conditions for institutions to teach, undertake research and contribute to society with freedom, integrity and responsibility”
James Perry Maia, CEO, MFHEA
From dialogue to shared understanding
The activity complements the Working Group on Fundamental Values’ work by providing space for candid discussion, peer learning, and the exchange of practical experience. Since applying fundamental values effectively involves stakeholders with diverse experiences and responsibilities, bringing their perspectives together is essential.
The feedback and discussions in Malta will contribute to a broader understanding of the challenges and opportunities of implementing and monitoring fundamental values across the EHEA. In short, Malta will not simply host a conversation about institutional autonomy; it will help shape where that conversation goes next.
ENDS
Notes to editors
The European Higher Education Area recognizes six equally important fundamental values: academic freedom, academic integrity, institutional autonomy, student and staff participation in higher education governance, and public responsibility for higher education.
The Malta Further and Higher Education Authority (MFHEA) is Malta’s regulatory authority for Further and Higher Education and is Co-Chair of the BFUG Working Group on Fundamental Values for 2024–2027.
(see the dedicated Media Information)
Media contact:
Francesca Pierpaoli, Communications & Marketing Manager
Theodora Bond, Senior Communications Officer
Malta Further and Higher Education Authority
Email: [email protected]