The Forum on Education Abroad, an American association that oversees the quality and good practices of education abroad, is organizing its second European conference, which will take place from 23 to 25 October on the Ciutadella campus, and will be entitled "What Does It Mean to Be a 'Traditional' Destination? Challenges and Opportunities for Education Abroad in Europe".

The event, which will include a plenary session and presentations in more than 35 different concurrent sessions, will involve the participation of more than 400 managers of education programmes abroad - both university lecturers and administration staff - mainly at centres in North America and Europe, who will be sharing their different perspectives on this area.

Jaume Casals, rector of UPF and Antoni Castellà, the Government of Catalonia's Secretary for Universities and Research, will chair the opening of the conference, which will take place in the Ciutadella Campus Auditorium at 6:30 pm on 23 October. The next day, 24 October, at 3:45 pm, and at the same venue, Jaume Casals will introduce Josep Serra i Villalba, director of the National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC), who will give the plenary lecture, entitled "Culture, the Arts and International Education".

The central theme of the conference refers to Europe as a traditional destination for education programmes abroad for students of other nationalities, and especially North Americans. This approach, which has been in place since the 1950s, needs rethinking in order to adapt to new circumstances and the new Europe. How has study abroad in Europe evolved and how will it evolve over the years? How should students be prepared so that they value the European experience appropriately in the modern world? What is the role of the European higher education institutions in this new context? These are some of the questions which will be discussed.

UPF's leading role as a host institution and in round tables

Sara López, the head of UPF's International Relations Service, will be chairing the organizing committee for the conference, which will be supported by the Association of American Programs in Spain (APUNE/AAPS) and the Spanish Universities Cooperation and Internationalization Committee (CICUE).

The lecturers in the Department of Humanities Lucía Conte, director of the UPF Education Abroad Program, and Isabel Valverde, academic director of the Hispanic and European Studies Programme, will participate in two panels.

Lucía Conte will be speaking on 24 October, at 10:45 am, and on the next day, 25 October, at 1:45 pm. At the first event, she will be participating in a round table that will discuss the importance of students' learning based on experience, while the second focuses on the design of programmes in the field of education abroad and how they must meet the needs of a new generation of students.

Isabel Valverde will participate in a debate that wil l take place at 1:45 pm on 24 October, and will explore the opportunities and challenges for universities in the United States when managing relationships with suppliers of academic programmes and with European universities, especially with regard to establishing academic policies and regulations.