INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION WEEK “VORONEZH UNIVERSITY – ONE CENTURY HISTORY” that took place in VSU on 13-15 September 2018 devoted to the celebrations of the 100-year anniversary of its foundation provided a platform for a number of activities aimed at discussing opportunities for participating in European educational and research programmes as well as practical aspects of preparing and carrying out projects and studying best-practice examples. The highlight event of the International Education Week was the international conference “Internationalization of Higher Education: strategies and tools” which was held within the framework of Erasmus+ HARMONY project “Development of approaches to harmonization of comprehensive internationalization strategies in HE, research and innovation at EU and PCs”. It provided a platform for discussions and broad exchange of experiences of development and implementation of internationalization strategies and algorithm of development of their action plans, including such aspects as joint degrees, academic mobility, recognition mechanisms.
The conference gathered together over 120 representatives from the 50 Russian and European VSU partner-universities and organizations: from Spain, France, Germany, the UK, Italy Portugal, Austria, the Netherlands, Greece, Hungary, Slovakia, Lithuania, Turkey, the USA, Serbia, Macedonia, China, Marocco, Belarus, Armenia. The participants included rectors, vice rectors, experts on internationalization of higher education, researchers and teachers in various fields who came from such universities as University of Seville, Sapienza University of Rome, Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, University of Lille, University of Birmingham, University of Halle-Wittenberg, University of Granada, Oxford University, University of Leon, Kassel University, University of Tuscia, Belarusian State University, Southern Federal University, Penza State University, Tula State University and others.
Dr. Anne Spangemacher, project officer of International Capacity Building Unit at EACEA, European Commission, Brussels, presented the results of the 2018 call for proposals along with the priorities of upcoming calls. During the conference partners also talked through the issues concerning global macrotrends in the development of higher education and analyzed the common challenges that are faced in higher education internationalization strategies. Prof. Stephen Hagen shared their best practice of internationalization strategies implemented in emerging countries using case studies from Central Asian Universities. Partners from Armenia, Belarus and Russia presented their results of the development of internationalization strategies in their universities.
At the end of the conference there was held a coordinating meeting of the HARMONY project. During the meeting partners discussed the details of its completion and further actions on dissemination and exploitation of results.
The Final Conference on the HARMONY project will be held in Moscow on December 17-20, 2018. The conference will become a public event bring together representatives of Russian universities.
HARMONY project aims to contribute to increase attractiveness of higher education systems, setting a HEI as centre of excellence in higher education, research and innovation on global scene but according to national strategies by strengthening integration of education, research, development, innovation and internationalization of higher education systems within HEA considering Bologna Process provisions.
It is worth mentioning that in conjunction with the international conference on internationalization of higher education there was also held International Youth Forum ‘Russian Foreign Policy from the perspective of the youth’. In the scope of the forum the Director of the Institute of Europe of RAS professor Alexey Gromyko conducted a round table discussion ‘Russia-UK: a cordial discord?’ assembling the British Alumni of VSU and researchers from the renowned universities of the UK.
