ACU member universities have been busy showcasing how they are already creating 21st century skills and knowledge through innovative research, international mobility and partnerships on the first day of Going Global 2018.

Prof Anne Pakir, Associate Vice President at @NUSingapore outlining their #studentmobility activity (70+ double, joint & concurrent degrees, study trips & entrepreneur colleges!) and how they benefit all those involved #GoingGlobal2018 #intled pic.twitter.com/5dZJopDMhS

— The ACU (@The_ACU) May 2, 2018

Highlights include Prof Anne Pakir, Associate Vice President at NUS Singapore, highlighting the impact of their many mobility programmes and Prof Cheryl de la Rey, Vice Chancellor and Rector at the University of Pretoria, discussing how university networks are having an impact on their communities through international collaboration.

Cheryl de la Rey VC at @UPTuks speaking about how #universities are combining local & national with global & international. University networks, such as @TalloiresNet are already doing this on a global scale & contributing to social transformation & development #GoingGlobal2018 pic.twitter.com/LrBJtCn5nq

— The ACU (@The_ACU) May 2, 2018

The day drew to a close with Joanna Newman chairing a panel on 'More than two to tango: bridging global collaboration and local engagement', which challenged speakers to demonstrate how universities' international outputs do lead to local benefits.

Our panel for this session is Dr Joanna Newman MBE - ACU (@DrJoannaNewman).

Linda Chang - Office of International Affairs, National Taiwan University

Dr Rahul Choudaha -StudyPortals, USA (@DrEducationBlog)

James Gardner - De Montfort University (@DMUPVC) #GoingGlobal2018 pic.twitter.com/Uw7g5emfBO

— Going Global (@HEGoingGlobal) May 2, 2018

The esteemed panellists represented diverse viewpoints, with Dr Rahul Choudaha offering insights into the supply versus demand of education – traditional university structures are being disrupted by newer, innovative models of education, such as transnational offerings. James Gardner discussed local social impact, stating that we can do more together, but in order to do this need to share best practice. While Dr Linda Chang focused on global versus local collaboration, highlighting Taiwan's work with the British Council and other ASEAN countries, including Malaysia.

Supporting academic mobility

As part of the ACU's ongoing commitment to facilitating academic mobility, three Internationalisation Community members are at Going Global:

• Jackie Norton, Director of Academic Partnerships, Birmingham City University
• Poonam Singh, Director Postgraduate courses in Biotehcnology Research, from the University of Ulster
• Samiatu Mante, Senior Assistant Registrar, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration

Congratulations to Jackie Norton from @MyBCU here with @DrJoannaNewman who won our Engage Community bursary to present a poster @HEGoingGlobal #GoingGlobal2018 pic.twitter.com/zshWHcflA4

— The ACU (@The_ACU) May 2, 2018

Thanks to this bursary, Jackie Norton is presenting a poster on 'Partnership Working: Social Impact and the Sphere of Influence on the Student and Academic Community: South Africa – Birmingham (UK) – Mexico – London (UK)', shining a spotlight on her research in South Africa and Mexico.

Keep an eye on our blog to find out what our bursary recipients made of this year's Going Global.

To find out more about our grants, bursaries and scholarships, take a look here.

Coming up tomorrow

Don't miss Dr Joanna Newman speaking at a plenary on 'Global institutions - servants of too many masters?', along with Prof Wim de Villiers, Vice-Chancellor of Stellenbosch University and Prof Ahmed Bewa, CEO of Universities South Africa. The session will be chaired by Jo Beall from the British Council and runs from 11.30-12.30 MST (4.30-5.30 BST).

Follow #GoingGlobal2018 on Twitter for live updates!

More information

Going Global is the British Council's annual conference for leaders of international education – this year's theme is 'Global connections, local impact'.

Dr Joanna Newman, Chief Executive and Secretary General, Liberty Oberlander, Head of Membership Development, Faye Taylor, Head of Strategic Partnerships and Kathryn Barnard, Events Manager, are attending this year's conference to represent the ACU and its membership.

Earlier this year, the ACU and the British Council signed a partnership agreement, committing our organisations to work more closely and promote higher education across the Commonwealth.