Parul University’s “International Week” brings together four countries to share insights on Global Education

City based Parul University successfully brought together academicians from three European countries and Russia to share insights on global education. As a part of its drive towards constantly innovating new methods of internationalisation, the University’s Department of International Relations, initiated “International Week” a one week long program designed to promote global academic practises amongst nations across the world.

This first of its kind program made its mark, by successfully bringing together experts from Russia, Estonia, Germany and Lithuania. The international delegation along with the Parul University experts collectively came together, to share the dynamic global perspectives to further impact higher education.

The value additional aspect behind organising and hosting this event was aimed at widening and strengthening cooperations between Parul University and institutions across Europe. The International Week also see the sharing of diversified perspectives and practical experiences regarding internationalization, as a way of networking inorder to establish new academic partnerships.

The experts who took part in this event include Prof. Nida Macerauskiene Dean of Business Management, along with Alina Katunian, Tourism Head, from Vilniaus kolegija /University of Applied Sciences, Lithuania. It also included Prof. Mari-Ann Susi and Prof. Mari Maesaar Summer Program Directors from University of Tartu, Estonia, along with Prof Julian Gollan Research Assistant at RUHR West University, Germany and Prof. Gleb Aleksandrov International coordinator from ITMO University, Russia. This event acted as a platform to reinforce the relations between the host University and these European and Russian institutions and to further explore more avenues for student and faculty mobility programs.

Sharing their various insights on the internationalisation strategies which they utilise in their respective nations, the delegates conducted workshops on some of the vital aspects of global education. The focus areas of these workshops included “developing competencies for strengthening internationalisation” along with talks on “Demystifying Creativity” and views on “Idea generation under the creative platform methodology”. The event also included various meetings held with an agenda to familiarise the teachers and the students of Parul University, on some of the unique elements of European and Russian education, and also for the foreign delegation to gain insights on Indian educational values.

Beyond the scope of the academics, the event also provided the participating professors, an opportunity to explore the diverse cultural traditions of India, through activities and visits to various heritage sites across Gujarat. The week also provided opportunities for the students to learn about the scope of study and program directly from the international professors.

"The multilingual gathering expressed the ever changing dynamics of the world. It is not enough to create partnerships, but there is a need to continuously reinforce and strengthen these ties to stay in touch with the contemporary needs of higher education. I highly appreciate the efforts of the International Relations Cell in creating this platform for various promoters of global education to collectively share innovative international strategies”, said the University’s President, Dr. Devanshu J Patel.