Keynote
Internationalisation: A stimulus for more inspirational and relevant higher education.
Prof. Dr. Robert Wagenaar, University of Groningen
Abstract
Higher education is experiencing serious challenges today. Both budget wise and in terms of its societal relevance. This has implications for the educational offers. At the one hand universities are expected to make their students knowledgeable and skilled in their academic field, but at the other to prepare them for playing a central role in coping with challenges such as climate change and sustaining society. This implies developing a critical mindset and keeping an eye on balancing national and international interests and developments.
Standards for high quality higher education are defined in an international setting, competitors being the global society. Internationalisation is not about mobility numbers in economic terms only, but also about brain drain and gain and learning from each other. Higher education quality institutions - large and small - can no longer operate successfully without international collaborative learning, in research, education and societal outreach. This explains the European Universities Initiative of the European Union which involves complete university communities. Central in this key lecture are the questions: Why should I care and what is in for me? Covering topics from preventing drop-outs, transition of learning environments, added value of joint curricula to developing new protentional markets in the context of lifelong learning.