Reimagining tertiary education

One of the current challenges is how tertiary education can be made affordable for countries with large young populations without sacrificing quality.  Digital technology has been expected to help and the response to the recent pandemic has shed some light on the opportunities and limitations of remote delivery.  While the pandemic has shown the potential for international collaboration, the impacts have still been felt unequally. What have we learned and how can we apply this to the post-pandemic world? 

At the British Council ‘Going Global 2021’ conference on the theme of  Reimagining tertiary education in post-pandemic world, CODE Fellow Dr J Simon Rofe spoke about the knowledge diplomacy role that universities can play in building trust and collaboration though through research and transactions between students, faculty, and institutions. “All of us at this Going Global conference are diplomats on behalf of ourselves, our institutions, our research interests” said Dr Rofe in a panel session chaired by Dr. Linda Amrane-Cooper, Director of Strategic Projects, Head of centre for Online and Distance Education, University of London. The aims of the panel discussion were to explore the crucial role of knowledge diplomacy in ensuring a positive future for global knowledge production, sharing and dissemination, with particular reference to SDG4.  It brought together colleagues from higher education, government and policy, in the UK, Germany, and the US, to build a deeper understanding of the role of knowledge diplomacy in future global knowledge production, exchange and transfer.   

The CODE contribution to this British Council event is part of a wider initiative to  promote the role universities can play in tackling key global challenges such as Covid-19 Pandemic and climate change and sustainability. For further information and to join the conversation, see the CODE Knowledge Diplomacy webinar series.