Higher education has undergone a comprehensive reconfiguration over the past ten years. As education has been redefined by technology, the learning processes have been reshaped and universities are going through digital transformation in the most expeditious way. Amid the ever-growing socio-economic uncertainty and outbreak of COVID-19, some critical gaps in tertiary education have been identified. Higher education institutions (HEIs) shutdown, rapid transfer to e-learning, public healthcare crisis, social and economic instability — these were a few of the challenges that universities had to confront. On the other hand, the digital transformations have given universities opportunities for improvements, which implies an urge for global education foresight.
Cooperation in higher education has always been of utmost importance to sustaining cohesive and viable communities of the Asia-Pacific. Given that HEIs of APEC economies continue to supply global labor market with skilled young professionals,, APEC remains the largest innovation and knowledge producer as well as a source of public policy expertise, driving socio-economic progress in the years ahead. Hence the search for better prospects for regional cooperation in the sphere of education is at the top of sustainable development agenda of the Asia-Pacific.
Since the APEC Russia 2012 Summit, the Conference on Cooperation in Higher Education in Asia-Pacific has been one of the most versatile platforms for discussing and developing practical recommendations for strengthening higher education systems, defining the role of APEC in tackling common challenges in education, and identifying potential strategies of further cooperation.
This year, Far Eastern Federal University with the support from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, the APEC Human Resources Development Working Group and the APEC Education Network, celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Conference on Cooperation in Higher Education in Asia-Pacific (APEC CCHE). The Conference titled Ten Years Standing Together: Global Education Foresight will welcome eminent representatives of education from APEC economies and beyond to engage in a dialogue and work closely on offering insights into expanding and improving APEC educational partnerships. APEC CCHE 2021 would be of interest to regional and federal government agencies, state organizations, heads of academic institutions, researchers, international NGOs, industry and business representatives of the United Nations, UNESCO, BRICS, G20, and others.
Gathered to reach for new partnerships, address the needs of the future, and unleash the potential of higher education, the participants of APEC CCHE 2021 are to identify key perspectives for APEC cooperation in education and approaches to strengthen regional and global education systems.
Traditionally, conference participants will gather at Far Eastern Federal University on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum held on September 2-3, 2021 in Vladivostok, Russia. Due to ongoing epidemiological limitations, this year APEC CCHE is to be held in a mixed format, combining both offline meetings and online meetings.
The 10th Conference on Cooperation in Higher Education in Asia-Pacific will be working along three tracks of discussion:
Track 1. Reaching for New Partnerships
Session 1. Borderless Dimension: The Greater Eurasian Partnership and APEC
Session 2: Across the Oceans: APEC for Africa
Session 3: APEC-BRICS-G20: in Search for Areas of Convergence
Track 2. Addressing the Needs of the Future
Session 1. UN Decade of Ocean Science: APEC Input
Session 2: APEC Technological Initiative: Debate on Digital Transformation in Education
Session 3: Age of Materials Science: Trends and Innovations in APEC Economies
Track 3. Unleashing the Potential
Session 1. Navigating Student Success: Universities’ Links to Labor Market
Session 2: University Rankings: Between Competition and Collaboration
Session 3: Priorities 2030: Innovative Development of Education Systems
APEC Conference on Cooperation in Higher Education is held annually at the Far Eastern Federal University campus on Russky Island. The IX APEC Conference on Cooperation in Higher Education: "New Era of Digital Education: Multilateral Approach and Challenges for APEC" was held online on October 26, 2020, consisting of two parts: the plenary session “Joint Solutions for Global Education and Sustainable Development” and the special session “Digital Solutions for the Future Labor Market”. At the conference, the participants discussed sustainable training systems in regional educational networks, the development of cooperation strategies in the field of education, innovation and adaptability of labor markets, and exchanged experiences in realizing the potential of digitalization of all business processes of their organizations.
Official webpage: https://www.dvfu.ru/en/apec-conference/
