BE OPEN Reveals New Ranking of Educational Programs for Europe

While working on this latest research BE OPEN reached out to 208 European universities and colleges that deal with relevant creative disciplines, as well as 16 professional associations and representatives of 64 bureaus. The comprehensive study has involved analysis of more than 800 individual educational programs, as well as gathering data through interviews with key decision makers and industry leaders, including heads of design studios and architectural bureaus.

Elena Baturina, philanthropist and founder of BE OPEN said: "The landscape of European creative education is incredibly diverse and significant. The European design and architecture schools train more young creatives than any other region of the world. BE OPEN's Ranking System has been developed with the hope to provide the universal and objective picture of European creative education to those who will greatly benefit from it - young people who aspire to professional careers in creative disciplines."

In each region the educational programs are arranged into groups according to specific sets of relevant criteria, such as 'the most frequently referenced', 'the most practice-oriented' and 'the most innovative'. The comprehensive ranking takes a number of variables into account incl. statistics relating to the universities' educational and research activities complemented by the opinions of key reference groups: employers, professors and graduates.

Significantly, unlike most of the research in the educational sphere, BE OPEN evaluates not the material resources, but the value of educational programs offered. It reviews both the traditional curricula, and the relatively new and developing disciplines.

In the run-up to the creation of the Global Ranking, BE OPEN has already mapped 208 educational design programs in North America (Canada, Mexico and the US), 34 educational design programs in Africa (Egypt, South Africa, Morocco, Ethiopia, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya and Liberia), 102 programs in South America (Argentina, Brazil, Chili and Colombia) and 96 programs in Asia (India, China, Japan, Thailand and Singapore).

The Ranking is part of BE OPEN's Inside the Academy initiative and was conceived for two main groups: applicants to academic programs in design and architecture around the world, and potential employers. The Ranking helps applicants choose where to study and influences employers looking for future employees.