IAU: Building a worldwide higher education community

[International Desk, DIU]

 
Sharing information on IAU activities and higher education in the world
Vol. 9, No 4, May 2012
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IAU activities - News/Opportunities from around the World

IAU Activities

CONFERENCES

   Registration for the 14th IAU General Conference opened on 1 April 2012

The Inter American University of Puerto Rico’s Metro Campus is preparing to welcome participants in the 14th IAU General Conference from 27 to 30 November 2012. The Conference is part of the University’s Centennial and will mark the academic highlight of a year-long celebration. Addressing the theme: Higher Education and the Global Agenda: Alternative Paths to the Future, a number of keynote speakers have already confirmed their participation including Sultan Abu-Orabi (Jordan), Philip Altbach (USA), Rafael Aragunde (Puerto Rico), Ernest Aryeetey (Ghana), Jo Beal (UK), Monique Castillo (France), Christian Muller (Germany), Deepak Nayaar (India), Howard Newby (UK), Ismael Serageldin (Egypt), and Xinyu Yang (China).

Contact: Elodie Boisfer

Call for Abstracts (Deadline: 31 May 2012)


ACTIVITIES

   IAU Executive Committee Meets in Puerto Rico, US
This year’s semi-annual meeting of the IAU Executive Committee meeting took place in Puerto Rico, in preparation for the 14th General Conference. The members discussed the progress of the thematic programme as well as the business sessions to take place this coming November, and took some final decisions with regard to the IAU rules concerning the elections of the IAU President and Board. The IAU staff was able to meet the President and other senior representatives of the Inter American University of Puerto Rico, and more especially the Chancellor of the Metro Campus, Marilina Wayland and her staff.  The General Conference will take place on this Campus of the University.

   Rethinking the Internationalization of Higher Education

After several months of drafting and consultations, the IAU Executive Committee approved Affirming the Academic Values in Internationalization of Higher Education: A Call for Action which the IAU prepared in collaboration with the international Ad Hoc Expert Group which was created after the 4th Global Meeting of Associations held in Delhi, India in April 2011.  The Call has already attracted media attention (link to Inside HigherEd, Global Higher Ed space) and is but a first step.  The Ad Hoc Expert Group will explore ways to move towards the concrete implementation of the principles expressed in the Call and IAU will also invite all its Member Organizations to consider how this document can become more than simply words.  Dissemination of the Call is a first step and others will follow; IAU is open to suggestions and will be inviting all Members and other HEIs to endorse the Call if they agree with its content.

   IAU Secretary General Accepts a Seat on the Magna Charta Observatory Council

Prof. Ustun Erguder, President of the Magna Charta Observatory, after a unanimous decision by the Council, invited Eva Egron-Polak to join the 15-person Council for a term of four years, starting this September.  The IAU Secretary General’s presence on the Council will reinforce the already strong cooperation between the two organizations which have established a Joint Working Group chaired by Prof. Pier Ugo Calzolari, IAU Vice President and former Rector of the University of Bologna, Italy to draft international Guidelines for an Institutional Code of Ethics in Higher Education.

   Higher Education for Sustainable Development: Rio+20 Declaration

On the occasion of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), Rio+20, UNESCO – together with other UN agencies - invites leaders of higher education institutions from around the world to sign a Declaration that would commit them to developing sustainable practices.  IAU endorsed the process on behalf of its Members and invites them to consider signing it as well.
http://rio20.euromed-management.com/


IAU Representation

   AMUE Workshop on Internationalization

On 2 April, the French Agence de Mutualisation des Universités et Etablissements d'Enseignement supérieur et de Recherche organized its first day-long seminar on the challenges and opportunities of higher education internationalization for representatives of French universities, in Paris, France. The IAU Secretary General was asked to act as the general rapporteur of the day’s discussions.
http://www.amue.fr/ (in French)

   University of Vienna-Austrian Agency for International Cooperation in Education and Research (OeAD) - Joint Friday Lectures

On 20 April, Eva Egron-Polak, IAU Secretary General, was an invited speaker at the University of Vienna’s Friday Lectures. She took part in a discussion on Teaching and Studying in a Globalised World.
http://ctl.univie.ac.at/friday-lectures

   Information For All Programme (IFAP)

Isabelle Turmaine, IAU Director, Information Centre and Communication Services, attended the 7th session of the Intergovernmental Council of IFAP at UNESCO, Paris, France from 2 to 3 April 2012. The session discussed activities reports and work plans on information literacy, ethics, preservation, accessibility and information for development. It announced two conferences: an International Conference on Media and Information Literacy in Knowledge Societies in Moscow, Russia, from 24 to 28 June 2012 and the Digital Preservation Conference The Memory of the World in the Digital Age: Digitization and Preservation in Vancouver, Canada, 25 to 27 September 2012.
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/intergovernmental-programmes/
information-for-all-programme-ifap/meetings-documents/7th-session-of-the-ifap-council/

 
  Meeting of the Steering Committee for Educational Policy and Practice (CDPPE), Council of Europe, 27-29 March 2012

Dr Hilligje van’t Land, IAU Director Membership and Programme Development, took part in the 1st Meeting of the CDPPE. Under the authority of the Committee of Ministers and in the framework of the European Cultural Convention, this Committee oversees CoE’s programmes in the field of education and advises the Committee of Ministers. Items discussed were: the reform of education systems and education policies to further democratic competences and participation; the development of the European higher education area; education for intercultural understanding ; citizenship and human rights education; the promotion of the right to quality education and the strategic overview of future CoE work on education.
http://www.coe.int/t/cm/home_en.asp
For detailed information on these activities, contact us at: iau@iau-aiu.net
More on the Association at: http://www.iau-aiu.net
Reminder of Important IAU Dates
        2012  
•   November 27-30: IAU General Conference on Higher Education and the Global Agenda, Inter-American University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA
        2013
•   April: IAU Global Meeting of Association (GMA V)
IAU Partnership Events
         2012
•   June, 25-27 : SiS Catalyst Conference on Children as Change Agents for Science and Society: Putting Global Thinking into Action, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
News from our Members at: http://www.iau-aiu.net/news-from-members
Calendar of events at: http://www.iau-aiu.net/content/global-calendar

To be Continue...