The international meeting held at the FIERGS Event Center in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, promoted lectures, workshops, presentation sessions and meetings between Brazilian and foreign institutions.
From April 8 to 12, the city of Porto Alegre hosted the 2017 FAUBAI – the 29th edition of the FAUBAI Annual Conference, Brazilian International Education Association, which gathered representatives linked to the internationalization of higher education in Brazil and the world (http://www.faubai.org.br/conf/2017/).
This year’s edition gathered over 560 participants, half of them from 28 different countries, representing all continents 1, around the general theme ‘New Trends in the Internationalization of Higher Education: Social Commitment and Innovation’, discussing issues linked to the inclusion, access, reciprocity, new technologies and global citizenship, among other important challenges of the internationalization of higher education.
During the five days, the participants were able to follow 45 parallel sessions totaling 119 presentations of works.
The eight workshops held before the conference offered opportunities for training on topics related to the Management of an International Relations’ Office, Cooperation Opportunities in Canada and the Americas, Dual Diplomas, Languages without Borders Program, Technological Initiatives for Virtual International Cooperation, Participation in International European Union Programs and the Funding of International Projects.
The 2017 FAUBAI welcomed globally recognized specialists in the area of higher education internationalization.
Fanta Aw, former Chairwoman of the International Educator Association – NAFSA (the largest international education association in the world) and Vice Dean of the American University Life Campus (USA) gave the opening lecture “Social Responsibility in Higher education internationalization” defending greater access and inclusion with international opportunities offered to all.
Connie McManus Pimentel, Director of International Relations for CAPES (Brazil), presented the outlines of the new internationalization programs of the Brazilian IES, which will be launched during the second semester of 2017, directed more towards postgraduate degrees and with greater involvement, proactivity and strategic planning by the institutions in order to access financing.
Topics with innovative proposals for virtual mobility, policies and national higher education internationalization strategies were addressed in the plenary conferences by Jon Rubin from COIL Consulting, Joybrato Mukherjee, Vice President of the German Academic Exchange Service – DAAD and Dean of the Justus Liebig University, and Pablo Martín González, Director of the Spanish Services for Educational Internationalization – SEPIE.
The final plenary, “Global Dialogue”, gathered, next to the FAUBAI President and Vice President, representatives from important international educational associations – EAIE (European International Education Association), IEASA (South Africa), CONAHEC (North America) and RedCIUN (Argentina). Together, they acknowledged the existence of different forms of understanding and achieving higher education internationalization and the need to ensure greater reciprocity in international cooperation.
The 2017 FAUBAI was supported by important sponsoring entities involved with the theme of higher education internationalization, such as ETS – Educational Testing Service, Brazil’s Department of Education, CAPES/MEC, the University of Arizona, the United States Embassy and Education in Ireland, in addition to AUF – Francophonie University Association, France Campus, DAAD – German Academic Exchange Service, EduCanada, the Australian Government, and Learn Chile.
FAUBAI 2018 will be held in Rio de Janeiro, from April 14 to 18, 2018, commemorating FAUBAI’s 30th anniversary.