This year’s ENQA General Assembly took place in Las Palmas on Gran Canaria from 21 to 23 October 2026, under the theme ‘Collaboration as a driver for innovation’. Representing EVALAG at the event were Dr Aletta Hinsken, Member of the Board of Directors, and Miriam Chebbah, Scientific Advisor. The conference focused on how collaboration between different stakeholders – across national borders and between policy-makers and practitioners – can foster innovation, knowledge exchange, mutual learning and trust.
EVALAG used the General Assembly as an opportunity for professional exchange and to engage with current developments in quality assurance. The agenda included, amongst other things, the further development of the European Approach, the current status of the ESG revision, and cooperation between quality assurance agencies and higher education institutions. The exchange within ENQA offers EVALAG the opportunity to play an active role in shaping the future of quality assurance whilst, at the same time, drawing inspiration for its own work from discussions with other agencies.
Particular emphasis was placed on understanding quality assurance from a forward-looking perspective and using it as a tool for learning and long-term development. Not everything that is important for quality can be measured. Quality assurance should therefore go beyond mere measurement and provide targeted impetus for further development.
Insights into the work of the Canary Islands’ quality assurance agency, ACCUEE, rounded off the programme. Of particular interest was its holistic view of education and quality assurance: in addition to the higher education sector, the agency also incorporates vocational education and training into its quality assurance activities.
Las Palmas, too, with its historic and culturally diverse old town of Vegueta, provided a fitting setting for the international exchange.