16–18 September, Torino, Italy
The beautiful baroque city of Torino, Italy, hosted the European Association for International Education’s 16th Annual Conference from 16 to 18 September 2004, which attracted more than 1900 higher education professionals from all over the world. The success of the annual conference is principally attributed to its ability to attract and satisfy the professional needs of a diverse audience ranging from university rectors to exchange programme coordinators and staff at international offices. This diversity presents an exceptional forum to network, exchange information, and debate policies and issues in higher education. This extraordinary gathering of participants at the Lingotto Conference Centre also attracted over 75 exhibition stands, making this year’s EAIE Exhibition the biggest yet. The extensive conference programme incorporated over 80 sessions on international higher education and 21 posters at the new networking poster sessions.
Keynote plenary
To commence the conference activities and discussions, the Opening Plenary on Thursday 16 September featured addresses from the following distinguished speakers:
- Andrea Pininfarina, Vice-President of Confindustria
- Professor Rinaldo Bertolino, Rector of the Università degli Studi di Torino
- Professor Carlo Ugo Alberto Naldi, Vice-Rector for International Relations at the Politecnico di Torino
- Jeroen Torenbeek, Utrecht University, The Netherlands and EAIE President 2003–2004
The EAIE General Meeting
It was time to induct a new EAIE President this year and elect a new Vice-President during the General Meeting of EAIE members on Friday 17 September. Jeroen Torenbeek, Utrecht University, The Netherlands, formally handed over the EAIE Presidency to Antoinette Charon Wauters, University of Lausanne, Switzerland, who began her two-year term in office at the meeting, and welcomed Fiona Hunter, Università Carlo Cattaneo, Italy, the newly elected EAIE Vice-President.
Awards
At the Closing Event of the conference the second Constance Meldrum Award for Vision and Leadership was presented to Dr Bengt Nilsson, while Dr Kirsi-Marja Marnela received the first EAIE Best Practice Award. Dr Nilsson has currently retired from his most recent position as Vice-Rector for International affairs at Malmö University. Dr Marnela is the Director of international education services at the University of Tampere. Both have been very active members of the EAIE. To give two examples, Bengt Nilsson has often been referred to as the ‘grandfather’ of the EAIE’s Special Interest Group, Internationalisation at Home and Dr Marnela played an absolutely crucial role on the local committee when the higher education institutions of Tampere organised the EAIE Annual Conference in 2001.
Special events
In addition to the discussions of significant topics in seminars and workshops, the conference also allowed participants opportunities to relax and network. This year, two options were available for the annual EAIE Dinner and Dance; elegant dinning at the Circolo Ufficiali or the cold buffet and dance floor at the Pick-Up club, one of the hottest clubs in Torino. Like usual, participants danced until the early hours of the morning with their colleagues and new friends. Three new networking opportunities were available at the Torino conference:
- The networking challenge in which the first 200 participants to find their ‘match’ won a handy EAIE business card holder.
- The networking poster session, an alternative session format, that integrated text and graphics in a poster format on higher education themes.
- Partner search message boards that were used to find matches for institutions seeking similar partnerships.
In conclusion
Sunny Italy made participants feel very welcome and they praised the conference for the diversity and quality of the information, the many networking opportunities and the beautiful venue. We look forward to welcoming you all again next year in Kraków.