FEANI
It was the conviction that the engineers’ community in Europe could and should contribute to peaceful development, in a continent so deeply devastated by the Second World War, that lead in 1951 to the creation of FEANI (European Federation of National Engineering Associations) by engineering organizations from seven European countries (Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy and Luxembourg)
FEANI today is composed of its Secretariat General located in Brussels (www.feani.org) and is federating 30 FEANI National Members which encompasses a network of more than 350 National Engineering organizations such as, depending on the country : regulatory authorities (Ordem, Council, Colegio, Chamber), scientific and technical societies, engineers’ unions or professional associations. Through its members, FEANI is representing more than 3,500,000 European Engineers. This makes FEANI by far the largest European multi-discipline engineering organization, representing engineers who have successfully completed either short or long cycle academic education.
FEANI is a Belgian registered not for profit international association (aisbl).
The main objectives of FEANI include
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To ensure excellence in education for the European engineers |
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To support the recognition of professional qualifications of European engineers |
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These support the mobility of the European engineers, both within Europe and the rest of the world. Among the different activities and projects which support these objectives should be cited: |
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The FEANI INDEX database, a proprietary database which today contains more than 1,000 education institutions in 26 European countries and more than 10,000 accredited education programmes. |
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The EUR-ACE, a project (‘Accreditation of European Engineering Programmes’), developed together with other partners, financed by the EU Commission and with FEANI as grant holder. It has developed an accreditation system based on output criteria (learning outcomes), covering the first and the second cycle of engineering education as defined in the Bologna Declaration, being complementary to the FEANI system. |
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The EUR ING (‘European Engineer’), a quality professional title which is a contribution of FEANI concerning the recognition of professional engineering qualifications based on a sound education and assessed professional experience. |
The ENGCARD (European Engineering Professional Card), another EU Commission funded project with FEANI as grant holder to facilitate mobility. The recognition of professional qualifications is nowadays a major concern for the EU institutions involved in developing solutions to implement the full content of the EU Treaty, and in particular, the free movement of workers and services providers and the right to pursue a profession in an EU Member State, other than the one in which the professional qualifications have been obtained. FEANI has undertaken an engineers professional card Feasibility Study Project and the best way to implement it at national level is now under consideration.
Besides these activities, FEANI also produces position papers on subjects of important interest to society (‘European Code of Conduct for Engineers’; ‘Engineers Skills Shortage’, ‘R&D’,). FEANI is also involved in CPD (Continuing Professional Development) activities, and issues regularly the “FEANI News”, conceived as a high level journal for European engineers .
FEANI is a founding member of the World Federation of Engineering Organisations (WFEO) and collaborates with many other organisations dealing with engineering and technology issues. The federation also has consultative status with UNESCO, UNIDO and the Council of Europe.
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