Medellín, Colombia, 22/11/17 – The Inter-American Organization for Higher Education (IOHE) was present at a number of important events in Colombia in order to strengthen collaboration between Colombian institutions and IOHE’s member network and governing authorities.
On November 20 and 21 IOHE’s Executive Director, Dr. David Julien, participated in several national and international level meetings in the city of Medellín aiming to further strengthen IOHE’s relationship with higher education associations and institutions in Colombia.
During these events Dr. Julien shared the results of the most recent edition of the Conference of the Americas on International Education (CAIE) that took place this October in Montreal, Canada with those present at the ninth Latin American and the Caribbean Conference for the Internationalization of Higher Education (LACHEC) as well as with Colombian university presidents during a breakfast at Colegiatura Colombiana on November 21. Delegations from the Instituto colombiano de Crédito Educativo y Estudios Técnicos en el Exterior (ICETEX) and from the National Ministry of Education, as well as ambassadors and other important actors in internationalization from Medellín were also present at the gathering. In addition to this, a presentation about CAIE was also given to the National Assembly of Red Colombiana para la Internacionalización (RCI), an entity related to the Asociación Colombiana de Universidades (ASCUN).
Dr. Julien highlighted that CAIE Canada-2017, whose secretariat is under the responsibility of IOHE, drew the participation of 640 delegates (ministers, high level government officials, university presidents and vice-presidents, directors of international relations, academics, specialists and representatives from associations) from 29 different countries, including a large delegation from Colombia that was third in terms of participation after Mexico and Canada. The theme chosen for the Conference’s fifth edition, “Preparing the Leaders and Innovators of Tomorrow: Research and Higher Education, Bridges to Prosperity across the Americas”, drew the attention of participants from across the continent as well as other parts of the world.
The importance given to the question of the internationalization of education by the Colombian delegation was evident in their participation and assistance with debates and academic activities aimed at sharing experiences, trends, and best practices in the internationalization of higher education as well as to build and strengthen academic participation between participants. This facilitated international collaboration agreements between the various delegations with the aim of increasing academic relations between countries across the continent.
The various groups and organizations were particularly interested in Dr. Julien’s presentations about CAIE and glad to see its relevance and establishment as a unique continental initiative which takes into consideration Colombia’s presence in the future.