As announced in the previous edition of On the Spot, June was dedicated to Education for Standards. The first highlight was the first Austrian Academic Standards Day in Graz, where Prof. Dr. Karl Grün, Deputy Managing Director of Austrian Standards International, highlighted the strategic role of standards in translating innovation into practice, building trust, and connecting academia, industry, and society.
A few days later, at the 30th EURAS Annual Standardization Conference, held under the theme “Values in Standards”, Austrian Standards’ contribution aligned closely with the conference’s central message: that standards are key instruments for the dissemination of the EU’s core values, and that a human-centered, inclusive approach to standardization benefits society at large.
A particular highlight was the presentation of the double-blind peer-reviewed paper “Normung Insight NextGen 2.0: A Value-Driven, Micro-Modular Training Pathway for Standardization” by Teodora Bulc, Project Lead Normung Insight & Topic Strategy Manager. The paper responds directly to the European Union Standardization Strategy, which identifies the lack of formal standardization education as a systemic gap, and demonstrates how Austrian Standards redesigned its training pathway in alignment with the EDU4Standards.eu value-based Intended Learning Outcomes framework and the Knowledge Areas of the Innovative Teaching Concept of Standardization. The pathway spans three progressive levels, from basic awareness, through process and role understanding, to the strategic application of standardization.
Importantly, the paper shows how the four constitutive values of standardization—transparency, openness, consensus, and inclusion—can be operationalized not only in standards development but also in standardization education itself.
Austrian Standards is very proud of their colleagues, whose dedication and innovative approach continue to bring standardization and education closer together. Collectively, these activities reflect Austrian Standards’ commitment to advancing education for standardization and fostering the competences needed to shape the future of standards in Europe and beyond.
