Coping with diversity within a common frame-work for accreditation of engineering education

The ENAEE (European Network for Accreditation of Engineering Education) is a non-profit international association based in Brussels. It aims at building a pan-European framework for the accreditation of engineering education programmes, in order to enhance the quality of engineering graduates, to facilitate the mobility of professional engineers and to promote quality and innovation in engineering education. Its main activities include the definition and management of the EUR-ACE label, that may be awarded to Engineering prorammes at Master or Bachelor level, that are compliant with common standards and guidelines – the EAFSG, EUR-ACE Framework Standards and Guidelines. However the aim is not uniformity but trust building among all stakeholders of engineering education. This paper discusses how ENAEE copes with the diversity of accreditation practices and with the diversity of the legal implications of accreditation in different countrie