Anglo-Swedish-Irish Higher Education Policy seminar Dublin City University 23-25 October 2012

HERC was invited by the British Leadership Foundation to host a senior level policy seminar in collaboration with the UK Leadership Foundation and the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education from 23-25 October 2012. The purpose of the seminar was to enable the most senior leaders in higher education institutions in Sweden, Ireland and the UK to meet and explore in depth their most challenging issues. Drawing on the experience of the three countries, and others, participants had the opportunity to acquire a deeper understanding of the system and issues in other countries and develop alternative approaches to solutions.  

Contributors to the seminar included Lars Haikola, The University Chancellor, Swedish National Agency for Higher Education , Tom Boland, Chief Executive of the Higher Education Authority, Professor Brian MacCraith, President of DCU, Professor Philip Nolan, President of NUIM, Professor Muriel Robinson, Principal, Bishop Grosseteste University College, UK. The seminar was co-hosted by Professor Robin Middlehurst (pictured below) , Director, Strategy, Research and International, Leadership Foundation for Higher Education, UK, and Professor Maria Slowey, Director of HERC.

 Four major themes were addressed at the Seminar:

• The pressure to reform the academic landscape
• Internationalisation 
• Differentiation 
• Collaboration, Alliances and Mergers

Seminar sessions were held on the following topics: 

• Reforming the academic landscape: drivers and responses
• Mission differentiation
• Internationalisation: The EU Challenge

Each session had inputs from one or more countries, which were followed by discussions in multi-national groups. It is hoped that this might provide the start of further collaborative activities between the three countries.