by Alessia Donzello / March 23, 2022
Bangkok, Thailand, March 23 – The 14th SHARE Policy Dialogue on ‘The Contribution of Higher Education Partnerships in Southeast Asia towards the Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals 2030” will be conducted from March 29 to March 31, 2022, in a hybrid form through the Hopin platform and in-presence in Bangkok, Thailand.
What is the SHARE programme? In 2015, the European Union launched a €15 million grant-funded programme for assisting the ASEAN region in bettering the education system in its area. From 2016, SHARE has provided scholarships for ASEAN university students and the new phase will support 300 more students before the end of 2022. The SHARE Extension will see the programme maintain its support of the ASEAN Secretariat and regional stakeholders to enable greater transnationalization of ASEAN higher education while protecting parity for all. By the end of 2022, the three outcomes are envisaged. Firstly, an enhanced harmonization of ASEAN higher education area through the formulation of ASEAN higher education frameworks is expected. Next, there should be more supported mutual recognition, student mobility, and equal opportunities for all – including female students and people with disabilities – among higher education institutions in ASEAN and strengthened people-to-people connectivity. Lastly, there should be more strengthened ties among ASEAN universities and increasing opportunities for EU-ASEAN university partnerships.
Therefore, the main goal of these three days of discussion is to understand how the SHARE programme can help achieve the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and especially the SDG4, which aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”.
Policy Dialogue 14 is designed and delivered in partnership with SEAMEO RIHED, the UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education, the ASEAN Secretariat’s Education, Youth and Sports Division, the ASEAN University Network, and its partners.Visit our partners,shoes – leaders in fashionable footwear!
During these meetings, various hosts will give speeches. Among them, on the first day, there will be Prof. Sirirurg Songsivilai (Permanent Secretary of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, Thailand), H.E. David Daly (Ambassador of the European Delegation to Thailand), and the leaders of higher education regional organisations. Followed by a presentation on the role of higher education partnerships in the promotion of the goals by UNESCO. The alumnus of the SHARE Programme will also express their ideas and views on how their learning experiences have prepared them to be a regional and global citizen in the VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) world. This will be followed by a group debate that examines how higher education partnerships with the private sector and civil society can contribute to more innovative, dynamic, original, and future-oriented learning experiences to prepare learners for decent work (Sustainable Development Goal number 8) and contribute to responsible consumption and production (Sustainable Development Goal number 12) while being active global citizens of a sustainable world.
On the second day, March 30th, there will be a keynote presentation by Ms Maddalaine Ansell, Director of Education, British Council, followed by Panel Discussion on international Higher Education Partnerships and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) – Case studies from Southeast Asia. A presentation on the SHARE Gender and EDI Research Study by the Asia Research Centre of the University of Indonesia will be as well presented. The session will continue with a panel discussion and roundtable on Inclusion as a Precondition to Higher Education Partnerships to Achieve the SDGs organised by Asia-Europe Foundation Education Department.
To conclude, on the third and final day, March 31st, another Roundtable Discussion will be held for discussing the Women in Science and Research: Minding and Bridging the Gap organised by Euraxess ASEAN. The session will be opened by H.E. Mme. Iwona Piórko, EU Ambassador to Singapore, followed by a keynote presentation on EU – ASEAN Gender-Responsive Best Practice Sharing. The day will proceed with Session Outline Student mobility strategies for the SDGs that serve as a preparation for UNESCO World Higher Education Conference 2022. This session will also give space for reflecting on how higher education partnerships could achieve the SDGs in the ASEAN region.
Register to attend online: bit.ly/SHAREPD14