31 January 2018
Flemish Ministry of Education and Training, Department of Education and Training, Brussels, Belgium
Participants:
- Prof. Azirah (UM)
- Yee Chee Leong (UM)
- Nadia Reynders (ASEM)
- David Urban (ASEM)
Summary of activity:
We met Nadia Reynders and David Urban of the current ASEM Education Secretariat in Brussels to exchange information on Asia-Europe cooperation in higher education. Both the French community (Ministry of Wallonia Brussels Federation) and Flemish Community (Ministry of Education and Training) currently host the Secretariat.
We introduced Asia-Europe Institute (AEI) in University of Malaya as an institution that complements the ASEM Education Secretariat goals in inter-regional dialogue and cooperation in higher education. AEI’s activities are instrumental in achieving the political, sociocultural and economic agendas of ASEM while fulfilling the aspirations of Malaysian Blueprints and ASEAN Education Work plans.
Then, we talked about our project, BRECIL, and the award of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence 2017-2020 which further propels the institution's directions and goals to align with ASEM's main thrusts including balanced mobility, quality assurance and recognition, education and business/industry, and lifelong learning goals.
Nadia and David encouraged the visibility of AEI's projects, initiatives and activities to the ASEM members via its newsletter, website and network circles. This includes published information about the AEI-ASEM Summer School, BRECIL and JMCoE activities by the Secretariat through ASEM networks. ASEM's presence in AEI projects and initiatives will have a multiplier effect in both regions thus ensuring the recognition and sustainability of project impact.
We hope AEI will become an official Stakeholder in view of its roles and functions in facilitating Asia-Europe dialogues. We are happy to inform that the ASEM Education Secretariat had agreed to become an Associated Partner in our BRECIL project. This will enhance the impact and sustainability of our Erasmus+ CBHE project and creates the possibility of including BRECIL as one of the initiatives in the ASEM process.
Prepared by: Yee Chee Leong, UM
