Developments in higher education in the Europe Region (including Europe, North America and Israel) are significant for the whole world and deserve particular attention, monitoring and assessment. In this context UNESCO-CEPES and the Government of Romania represented by the Ministry of Education, Research and Innovation, in collaboration with the Council of Europe, the European Commission, EUA, ESU, and EI, organized the UNESCO Forum on Higher Education in the Europe Region: Access, Values, Quality and Competitiveness. This event was part of a series of regional conferences organized to bring regional concerns and expectations to the World Conference on Higher Education “The New Dynamics of Higher Education and Research for Societal Change and Development" convened at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France, 5-8 July 2009.

The UNESCO Forum has been held in Bucharest, from 21-24 May 2009 when ministers and other high level decision-makers, parliamentarians, representatives of the academic community met representatives from various academic and research institutions, governmental, national and international non-governmental organizations, individual experts, and media representatives from the UNESCO Europe Region and beyond. The Forum is an invitation only event.

The Forum focused on the issues of access, values, quality and competitiveness, summing up the results of a series of important recent meetings in the field of higher education in the Europe Region, and assessing major developments and trends in higher education; providing a policy and intellectual platform for critical debate on the state and the future of higher education in the region; as well as providing input to the “The New Dynamics of Higher Education and research for Societal Change and Development".

The following documents  served as basis for discussions:

	Ten Years Back and Ten Years Forward: Developments and Trends in Higher Education in the Europe Region (also to be presented at the 2009 WCHE+10);
	Commissioned papers on access, values, quality, competitiveness, and internationalization

The main outcome of the UNESCO Forum was the Bucharest Message to the 2009 WCHE-Experiences and Recommendations from the Europe Region. Forum also provided opportunities for networking, debates, academic book exhibitions, student gatherings, and more.

A special publication book will be dedicated to this major event.