European and Arab University leadership discuss cooperation priorities in Barcelona

More than 200 participants from around 150 European and Arab universities gathered at the University of Barcelona (UB) on 30-31 May to discuss cooperation possibilities and common higher education challenges between the Arab world and Europe.
Jointly organised by UB, EUA and the Association of Arab Universities (AARU), this was the first conference between the two associations, and hence focused on prospects for closer cooperation between them. The conference addressed, in particular, university leadership (approximately 100 rectors attended), and discussed a wide array of topics such as the internationalisation of higher education, research training and doctoral education, frameworks for higher education convergence and employability and university-labour market interaction.
An inspiring keynote speech was given by Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan of Jordan, founder of the Princess Sumaya University for Technology, who highlighted the critical need for Arab countries to boost their research capacity and underpin growth and modernisation with knowledge. She stressed how the European higher education integration project — the Bologna Process — is an important model and vision that should be emulated by the Arab world. Read more...