A delegation from Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) participated in the annual conference of the Asia-Pacific Association for International Education (APAIE), held between 24 and 28 March in New Delhi (India). UPF was part of the delegation of Catalan universities in this international meeting, as part of the "Study in Catalonia" initiative. Furthermore, it had its own schedule and collaborated with other members of the Alliance 4 Universities (A4U) to reconnect with Southeast Asian partners and deepen ties in education and research within the region.

The APAIE conference is not only the most significant gathering of education professionals and experts in this region but also one of the leading global forums in the sector. This year, it brought together more than 3,000 participants from Europe and other parts of the world. UPF was represented by the Vice-Rector for Internationalisation of the University, Helena Ramalhinho, and the Director of the International Relations Service, Sara López.

The aim of this meeting was to enhance international cooperation, promote research and stimulate and facilitate exchange in higher education in Asia, the Pacific regions and around the world. This year's APAIE conference, held in India for the first time, had the motto "Cultivating global citizens for the future: the imperative of higher education in the Asia-Pacific and beyond".

UPF joins the "Study in Catalonia" stand representing the Catalan university system

UPF participated in the APAIE conference together with other Catalan universities. The Catalan university system had a stand at this year's event, coordinated by the Interuniversity Council of Catalonia (CIC), in collaboration with the Catalan Association of Public Universities (ACUP). At the "Study in Catalonia" stand, the studies, research, and internationalisation initiatives of the various universities in the country, including UPF, were showcased.

Sara López, who is also the president of the EAIE (European Association for International Education), participated in one of the main sessions of the meeting, the APAIE Global Dialogue 2025. This conversation addressed the challenges faced by educational institutions and research centres in putting teaching and research in the service of social and planetary well-being. The UPF speaker shared a table with C. Raj Kumar, Founding Vice-Rector of the O.P. Jindal Global University (India); Venky Shankararaman, President of the APAIE and Vice-Rector (Education) of the Singapore Management University (Singapore); James Tang, General Secretary of the University Grants Committee (Hong Kong); Ren Yi, President of the IEAA (International Education Association of Australia) and Vice-Rector (Internationalisation) of the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ); and Will Archer, Co-Founder of the International Education Sustainability Group (IESG) and miXabroad in the United Kingdom.

The Director of the UPF International Relations Service and President of the EAIE highlighted the importance of balancing internationalisation and sustainability by leveraging virtual opportunities with intentional design to recreate intercultural experiences. This can be achieved while still valuing the individual and social benefits of mobility and international study in fostering a global citizenship mindset. "Global citizenship has never been so necessary as it is now, and perhaps never more difficult to define precisely, given all that is at stake," said Sara López. Discussing artificial intelligence, the participants in the session agreed that education must ensure critical thinking and the ability to ask questions, as well as an understanding of how this technology works in order to avoid biases and risks.

What challenges does building global citizenship entail?

Throughout the conference, various subthemes related to the central theme of this event, the concept of global citizenship, were addressed. For example, how to promote global education and greater student mobility between universities in different countries or how to promote collaborations and partnerships between universities and other organisations and public institutions with shared objectives in terms of research and education with an international perspective. They also discussed how to generate diverse and inclusive educational and research environments that incorporate students and researchers with different social, cultural and academic backgrounds. Other talks specifically addressed how the internationalisation of higher education can strengthen the construction of global citizenship and how interdisciplinary research aimed at addressing the challenges of humanity and the planet as a whole can be enhanced.

The A4U mission in the region

Coinciding with the APAIE conference, the Alliance 4 Universities (A4U), of which UPF is a part, leveraged the unparalleled framework of the APAIE as a platform that brings together key countries in the region. They met with representatives from various educational and research institutions in India at the same convention centre as the event, the Yashobhoomi (India International Convention & Expo Centre). The A4U is also made up of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM) and the Carlos III University of Madrid (UC3M).

During the last week, the A4U delegation met with the following partner centres and universities in India: Jawaharlal Nehru University, Symbiosis International University, Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras), Institute of Technology of Bandung (IIT Bandung) and Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay). In order to identify specific opportunities for collaboration, meetings were held with the management of the Cervantes Institute and with representatives of the Spanish Embassy in New Delhi. These conversations will serve to strategically frame the academic missions in 2026, taking advantage of the Spain-India Year (2026).

Likewise, the presence of Malaysian universities (Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and Sains Malaysia) and Thai universities (Mahidol, Chulalongkorn and Thammasat) at the APAIE fair enabled discussions on coordinating and enhancing the effectiveness of A4U's international Erasmus mobility initiatives in the region. These programmes facilitate valuable student and researcher exchanges with these partner institutions.