Catalonia aims to host the largest higher education meeting in Europe in 2020

Barcelona (CNA).- Catalonia is aiming to host the 32^nd edition of EAIE, the largest higher education fair in Europe. Next Friday September the 16^th the Catalan Secretary of Universities and Research, Arcadi Navarro, will meet up with the President of the European Association for International Education (EAIE), Laura Howard, to introduce Barcelona's candidacy to host the fair in 2020. The meeting will be in Liverpool, where this year’s edition is currently taking place.  A Catalan delegation has set up a pavilion at the event in order to offer information about the Catalan university system and its primary degrees, masters and doctorates to the visitors. 

‘Study in Catalonia. A knowledge hub in Southern Europe’ is the name of the marquee set up by the Catalan delegation, which is composed by representatives from 12 universities, the Catalan Association of Public Universities (ACUP) and the Secretary’s Office of Universities and Research.  

The 28^th edition of the fair has welcomed 5,000 representatives from 80 countries and more than 200 exhibitors. The event offers many different activities, among which are 19 workshops, 140 conferences and 5 campus tours to get to know the English colleges. It is a great occasion for professionals to participate in sessions, workshops and round tables about the globalisation of higher education. Besides this, the fair also offers a chance to attract new students, exchange ideas with counterparts from all around the globe and acquire information relating to best practices and the latest trends in international mobility programmes. 

This year’s edition has as its motto ‘Imagine’. The organisers propose to "imagine a world in which every student had the opportunity to gain international experience and develop intercultural skills that contribute to a truly sustainable global economy”, the Secretary General of the Interuniversity Council of Catalonia (CIC), Mercè Jou, explained.

Indeed, the Catalan delegation will participate in a session that will revolve around this issue. Arcadi Navarro willbe one of the speakers at the conference on prospects for cooperation between European universities, alongside the director of the European office of Glasgow Caledonian University, Majewsky Mark Anderson; the head of science and innovation at the Swiss government mission in the UK, Lutz-Peter Berg, and the head of relations with Europe of Universities UK, Lucy Shackleton. The event will take place next Friday at 10.30 am. Afterwards, Navarro will meet up with the President of the EAIE, Laura Howard.