Educators unite to listen, learn and lean into global challenges

More than 6,000 academics, university administrators and international higher education professionals from across the globe have gathered in Helsinki for the annual conference of the European Association for International Education this week.

Panel discussions featuring a total of 250 speakers will include debates on key topics concerning international higher education, including evaluating foreign credentials, the future of Erasmus mobility and the European Universities initiative, Brexit and fighting climate change from within universities.

Simon Anholt, political adviser and publisher of the Good Country Index, which ranks countries on their contribution to humanity and the planet, will deliver the opening keynote on how universities can help the international community to tackle global challenges.

Anthropologist Aminata Cairo, who leads the Inclusive Education research group at the Hague University of Applied Sciences, will give the closing keynote on Friday. She will reflect on diversity and inclusion in higher education by drawing on her experiences working with professional African dance companies and with refugees and economic migrants, both in the Netherlands and the US.

The event, centred on the theme of “encompassing all voices”, is set to include 230 sessions, 17 workshops and 22 networking events around the Finnish capital, as well as 240 exhibition stands.

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com