Connecting Across Cultures: Building Multinational Education Partnerships in the Mekong Basin

Presented by Professor Roberto Rabel Pro Vice-Chancellor (International)Victoria University of Wellington

‘Going Global 2012’London, United Kingdom14 March 2012

Challenges of Capacity Building

for Developed World

• Multiple pressures on contemporary universities in developed world: teaching, research, equity, service, innovation, economic growth, social transformation, international outreach.

• Resource limitations—more with less.

• Internationalisation vs. ‘export education’ as competing paradigms.

• Is international capacity-building still appropriate for universities in rapidly changing global environment? If so, how to develop institutional strategies and mobilise resources?

Challenges of Capacity Building

in Emerging Economies

• Multiple pressures on contemporary universities in emerging economies: teaching, research, equity, service, innovation, economic growth, social transformation, international outreach.

• Resource limitations—in spades!

• Challenge of English as lingua franca of academe and business.

• International capacity-building imperative but how to develop institutional strategies and mobilise resources?

Collaboration as a Response

• One response is multinational collaboration on basis of genuine partnerships.

• Offers mutual benefits, shared burdens, more appeal to third parties for funding.

• Raises prospects of multiple synergies if developed creatively, especially the nurturing of long-term connections among universities in developed and emerging economies.

• Perfect fit for universities with integrated internationalisation strategies which include equity and international development objectives, such as VUW.

Greater Mekong Subregion

Tertiary Education Consortium

GMSTEC is a charitable trust and multinational network established in 2002 with a mission of:

1.Sharing knowledge and building cultural understanding;2.Advancing the quality and diversity of programmes offered among GMSTEC members;3.Expanding learning and research opportunities available to staff and students in GMS, New Zealand and Australian universities;4.Mobilising academic and other resources to assist development of the Greater Mekong Subregion.

GMSTEC has contributed to capacity building by combining local and international expertise to provide a unique perspective on challenges for higher education in the Mekong Basin and to deliver university-led solutions to these challenges.

GMSTEC Members

New Zealand: Victoria University of Wellington Australia: The Australian National University

Thailand: Khon Kaen UniversityKing Mongkut’s University of Technology, Thonburi

Cambodia: Royal University of Phnom PenhRoyal University of Agriculture

Lao PDR: National University of Laos

Vietnam: National Economics University, HanoiUniversity of Economics, Ho Chi Minh CityHanoi University of Science and TechnologyCan Tho University

China: Yunnan University

GMSTEC Achievements (1)

• Capacity building programmes in Lao PDR and Vietnam on: Managing Network Infrastructure; Social Protection; and, Strategic Human Resource Management.

• Capacity building in English language training; Royal University of Phnom Penh.

• Teacher Development Workshops in Thailand

• Workshop on Development studies in the Mekong Region.

• Training needs analysis for government officials in the GMS.

• Text books for Cambodian Universities campaign.

GMSTEC Achievements (2)

• International conference on Sustainable Development for the GMS in Bangkok in 2010.

• GMSTEC Research Fellowship Programme.

• GMSTEC Research Grant Programme

• Two planned GMSTEC Symposia for 2012 on Climate Change Impacts in the GMS and China’s engagement with the GMS.

• Planned Mekong Study Abroad programme for 2013

Conclusion: GMSTEC as Case for

Multinational Capacity-building (1)

Challenges of using multinational networks for capacity-building include:

• Cross-cultural communication;

• Managing diverse academic cultures, resources and interests;

• Institutional vs. individual/faculty buy-in & commitment;

• Sustaining momentum as ‘coalitions of the willing’;

• Amassing concrete achievements;

• Justifying opportunity costs and funding.

Conclusion: GMSTEC as Case for

Multinational Capacity-building (2)

Benefits of using multinational networks for capacity-building include:

• Research collaboration to facilitate academically informed contributions to GMS development challenges;• Enhanced English, research and teaching capacity for GMS universities;• Innovative networking opportunities; • Multidimensional and multinational interactions amongst partners rather than narrowly focused, bilateral interactions;• Profile-building and other opportunities in GMS for VUW and ANU, such as VUW campus in Vietnam in cooperation with the University of Economics-HCMC.

Above all, ventures such as GMSTEC create platforms and frameworks for capacity-building in emerging economies while facilitating the enduring multinational partnerships among universities that will increasingly characterise the globalised international education era we are entering.