GLOBAL: Meeting education's challenges

The main theme of the Going Global conference had world potential with its aim of "making education meet the challenge". As countries face the worst recession in decades, are they becoming more isolationist? If so, what are the implications for international education?

These and other questions were discussed by delegates, as well as how staff and student mobility was being affected, how to improve global partnerships and global citizenship and the impact on policy and leadership.

After an introduction from Higher Education Minister David Lammy, John Sexton from New York University and Simon Marginson from Melbourne University gave keynote addresses.

Pawan Agarwal from West Bengal, India, and Professor Dzulkifli Abdul Razak, University Sains, Malaysia and Professor Michael Worton from University College London debated whether internationalism was a western construct.

Professor Shi Jian from Sichuan University, Professor Xie Weihe, Tsinghua University, and Madam Zhang Xiuqin, from China's Ministry of Education, explored the internationalisation agenda for China by 2020. Other country-specific sessions focused on Iraq, Vietnam and Hong Kong.

diane.spencer@uw-news.com