On 20 and 21 June 2023, the Academic Partnership Office hosted an Academic Partnership Conference at Waterside Campus. Partner and UON colleagues were invited to come together to share ideas and best practice around the theme of Higher educational partnerships in contribution to the achievement of UN sustainable development goals and the challenge of assessing social impact. The event provided a chance to share stories, experiences, and research with a focus on networking and celebrating achievements. We were lucky enough to see many of our partner colleagues make the trip to see us in person. For some this was their first-time visiting post Covid.
Sessions from our partner institutions included:
- Insights into Changemaker Activity in Sri Lanka presented by Wathsala Nanayakkara from Human Resource Management Institute
- Higher Education Partnerships and their Contribution to the Achievement of UN Sustainable Development Goals to Induce Social Inclusive Growth presented by Fazeela Banu from Amity Global Business School
- UN Refugee Council presented by Elina Saveriades from CASA College
- Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Support for Children and Young People in Thailand to Aid the Achieving of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality Education) presented by Harshi Sehmar from Village International Education Centre, Dr Chanisa Tantixalerm from Chulalongkorn University with UON’s Julian Brown
- Cross Border Collaboration Towards Sustainable Development Goals presented by Dr Hesham El Marsafawy from Gulf University
- Collaboration – the Key to Success presented by Fiona Creed from Oxford University Hospitals with UON’s Cindy Odell, Dr Roshni Khatri and Tracey Ali
- Achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals – Insights from Singapore’s Green Economy Approach presented by Professor Kit Leon Choong and Dr Easwaramoorthy Rangaswamy from Amity Global Institute.
Maggie Anderson, Academic Programme Manager, has highlighted the importance of the topic of this year’s conference:
“With over half a million students studying through educational partnerships across the globe with UK universities, it is important to consider how or if commitments to social impact and sustainable development are being met. Most universities now have some type of commitment or strategy which attempts to align to UN sustainable development goals. Specifically, SDG 4 which outlines the drive for access to tertiary education for all, including university education, and lifelong learning opportunities. The British Council considers that academic partnerships are fundamental to achieving UN sustainable development goals through education and guidance from Advance HE highlights the need to reduce and remove privilege and to improve accessibility and representation in higher education. The complexity of SDG’s and how universities can achieve those aims is an under-explored area and there are many unanswered questions specifically in relation to institutional policies and practices that could better support positive alignment of outcome versus intention.”
We would like to thank colleagues who took the time to attend the event, either as a speaker or delegate. We have received extremely positive and complimentary feedback from our partner colleagues who embraced the chance to meet with UON staff and other academic partners. Some meaningful connections have been made which will hopefully lead to further collaborations.
For further information on any of our academic partners and their presentation topics, please contact the Academic Partnership Office at academic.partnerships@northampton.ac.uk.