BRIC: Key points on the European higher education compass?

Brazil, Russia, India, China (BRIC). Key points on the European higher education compass? Brussels, 18 March 2011. 29th in the series “European Policy Seminars” of the Academic Cooperation Association.
Theme
In 2001, Jim O’Neill of Goldman Sachs is credited with having coined the term “BRICs” to refer collectively to the “larger emerging market economies” of Brazil, Russia, India and China. In the intervening years, an enormous amount of attention has been paid to both the quantitative and qualitative aspects of how these countries have been growing and changing. In close conjunction with issues of economic development and competitiveness, higher education has been considered a policy area of some significance in each of these countries, albeit in distinct ways and to differing extents. National and institutional actors from around the world have been working (and in some cases investing heavily) to understand the opportunities for engagement—economic and educational—presented by countries like the BRICs and to develop inroads into these contexts. Where do things stand now?
This one-day seminar is designed to provide participants with a clear picture of the key trends in higher education currently in play in Brazil, Russia, India and China and what these can (and do) mean for European higher education. The agenda will include overviews of the higher education sector in these four countries, addressing the most important developments, challenges, and opportunities in each context. Insight will also be provided into what is happening at the European level, in terms of strategic thinking and orientations towards these emerging economies. A number of specific “case studies” will also be presented, providing concrete examples of European cooperation at national and institutional levels with the BRICs.
We invite you to join us for a day of exploration and analysis of higher education in these highly dynamic countries, and the ways in which connections with European counterparts have and may evolve over time.