Global Dialogue Declaration
In January 2014, the EAIE, along with 23 other organisations, signed the Nelson Mandela Bay Global Dialogue Declaration on the Future of Internationalisation of Higher Education. In it, organisations involved in international higher education agree to actively work to make internationalisation more inclusive, more collaborative, equitable and ethical. It is an acknowledgement of what Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu call Ubuntu: “I am who I am because of you”.
Status: Ongoing
Period: January 2014–Present
Context
International organisations from all over the world gathered in South Africa in January 2014 for a Global Dialogue initiated and hosted by the EAIE’s sister organisation, the International Education Association of South Africa (IEASA). This Global Dialogue was the first of its kind and aimed at making the field of international higher education a two – or, rather multi-way – street, in which voices from the whole world get to be heard and where discourse and courses of action are shaped in collaboration. The starting point for the declaration are two important documents:
1. Affirming Academic Values in Internationalization of Higher Education: A Call for Action, adopted by the ‘International Association of Universities’ (IAU) in April 2012.
2. International Student Mobility Charter, adopted by the ‘European Association for International Education’ (EAIE) and the ‘International Education Association of Australia’ (IEAA) along with other associations around the world, September 2012.
Content
In signing the declaration, organisations agree:
- To enhance the quality and diversity of programmes involving the mobility of students and academic and administrative staff
- To increase focus on the internationalisation of the curriculum and related learning outcomes
- To commit to equal and ethical higher education partnerships on a global basis
Those who sign the declaration also agree to act upon a set of priority action points.