Internationalisation has become a fundamental part of
how the UK higher education sector operates and is a large factor in its
success. But the climate crisis and the launch of the UN Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 has led to questions about whether so much international activity and ambition is still viable.
19.6% of all students are international (EU and non-EU), and the
launch of the government’s International Education Strategy in March 2019
brought with it a commitment to increase that number by around 30% by 2030. The
reintroduction of the post-study work offer will only facilitate this
commitment. Research collaboration has become increasingly international,
and through the funding provided via programmes like the Newton Fund and the
Global Challenges Research Fund, address many of the world’s most intractable
problems. Transnational education has had average annual growth of 4.5%
between 2013-14 and 2017-18, and the UK also has an ambitious outward student
mobility target, aiming to double the number of students who spend a period of
time overseas during their studies.
But the climate crisis and the launch of the UN Sustainable
Development Goals in 2015 has led to questions about whether so much
international activity and ambition is still viable. The student
protesters of today are the university students of tomorrow. What impact
is internationalisation really having? Can universities really continue
to internationalise as they have been doing? And what opportunities are there
for international universities to be part of the solution?
This one-day conference, in collaboration with the Association of Commonwealth Universities, will tackle these complex
questions, bringing together higher education leaders, international
organisations, and business and government representatives to explore and
identify new collaborative strategies for collective success, as well as debate
and discuss the many tensions and complexities that the scale of the challenges
have made explicit. It will also consider how the UK higher education
sector as a whole can work best together to accelerate the pace of response and
aim to identify some practical steps for fast action.
We expect this conference to be relevant for colleagues working in roles such as:
- Pro-vice-chancellor international
- Pro-vice-chancellor research
- Heads of / Directors International
- Directors of sustainability
We have a range of sponsorship opportunities available at this event. Please contact Donna Taibe, Events and Admin Coordinator, for information. Email: donna.taibe@international.ac.uk.
