Good Neighbours and Faraway Friends: Regional Dimensions of International Education
11th Annual Conference, 2 to 4 December, 1999
Maastricht, The Netherlands

'Good neighbours and faraway friends: regional dimensions of international education' was the special theme of the 11th Annual EAIE conference. Maastricht as a venue fell in perfect correspondence with this conference theme. The city of Maastricht is located right at the heart of the Euregion Meuse-Rhine and extends over three countries (Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands) presenting an excellent example of cross-border cooperation. Maastricht is also the city where the summit conference of the European Council was held in December 1991, which resulted in 'Treaty of Maastricht' and the Euro.

As it is the end of the tenth anniversary of the EAIE, Iris Schwanck, in her presidential address, reminded everyone not to be too focused on the quantity of students coming in, but on quality of education being offered at European institutions. She reminded the crowd that the EAIE is the only organisation whose mission is to promote the professional interests of those working in the field of international education. She also talked about the ever-evolving industry of life long learning and how educated people are now seen as the most important capital of society.

Preceding the conference there were 16 workshops, meetings for the Professional Sections and meetings for the Special Interest Groups. The Joint ACA/EAIE Seminar, 'Putting research into practice: avenues in study and analysis of international higher education', proved very popular with participants, emphasising once again the growing interest in research in international education.

Guy Haug, Delegate-at-large of the Association of European Universities (CRE), gave the keynote speech. He talked about the significance of the Bologna Declaration and the current trends. The Bologna declaration is not only a vague political statement signed by 29 countries in Europe, it actually sets out an action plan:
1. Goal: achieve a European space for higher education
2. Calendar: completion of the European space within the first decade of the millennium
3. Programme of activities.
Iris Schwanck, 1999 EAIE president, gave the presidential address at the Opening Plenary. She talked about the first ten years of the EAIE.

So what took place in the professional tracks? ACE carefully examined the procedures that are demanded of member countries that adhere to the Conventions, in relation to equivalencies between national educational credentials within the European arena. One of the major purposes of the EAIE is to bridge the gap of knowledge and experience between colleagues from differing education systems, therefore this year's focus fell on The Netherlands, Poland, and the People's Republic of China. EDC also kept in line with this year's theme by examining higher education in Africa and examining the roadblocks that lie ahead for African universities unless partnerships are formed with European counterparts. There was also discussion about the disruption that is caused to academic programmes certain countries are involved in human rights violations.

EEPC kicked off the conference with two workshops on international networking and intercultural communication. They looked at how SOCRATES was working in the Associated countries at the end of their first Institutional Contract year. LICOM's session 'Imperial discourse or lingua franca?' examined the question of language in international exchange. It was said that language is a guide to seeing reality and bears its own cultural stamp, and while English is necessary for universal communication, care must be taken so that the English language does not overwhelm and extinguish others.

The conference closed in a very Dutch way with a visit from Sinterklaas (St Nicholas). He traditionally travels from Spain to The Netherlands each year, to celebrate his birthday with presents for all the good children.