International Representation and Fairs

The need for a stronger presence in forums, exhibitions and international organisations is one of the preferred implementation strategies included in the Catalan public universities Internationalisation Plan, designed to improve the visualisation, recognition and international competitiveness of all the Catalan public universities.

In order to achieve successful international recognition, joint strategies and mechanisms must be provided as a public university system, allowing for the creation of economies of scale between the various participating institutions and the promotion of international visibility of all the public universities under a joint brand; one that is identified as a system of reference and excellence both in Europe and around the world.

Visiting international education fairs is among the first actions that the ACUP proposed to promote under the scope of the Internationalisation Plan. The joint presence of the eight universities in international forums began at the conference of the European Association for International Education (EAIE) held in Madrid in 2009. The initiative was carried out in coordination with the CIC. At that time emphasis was already put on the idea of a quality system identified under the University of Catalonia brand. One of the issues focused on when presenting this brand image was the choice of an innovative and creative design. It had to be attractive when presented abroad and valid later on when presenting the public university system beyond Spanish borders.

From this first experience, the eight universities decided to participate jointly in spring 2010, together with the CIC, at the annual NAFSA (Association of International Educators) conference. The NAFSA is a group of professionals that encourages the internationalisation of education through the promotion of student exchanges to and from the United States. In addition, the ACUP participated in the annual EAIE conference that was held this year in Nantes (France). In these forums, the ACUP seeks to organise and promote the joint presence of the Catalan public university system abroad. It also plans to offer its own point of view to the supranational decision-making centres, as well as to the discussions and studies that have an underlying theme of university innovation and modernisation.

 

Offering the idea of a quality university system identified under the University of Catalonia brand