The ASEF Regional Conference on Higher Education (ARC) is the “Official Dialogue Partner of the ASEM Education Ministers Meeting (ASEMME)” and the only bi-regional multi-stakeholder dialogue platform for university and student leaders, policymakers and ministers to discuss higher education issues and shape the education landscape in Asia and Europe.
The 9th ASEF Regional Conference on Higher Education (ARC)
What is the ARC programme?
For the past 10 years, ARC has continuously evolved and contributed with various outputs (policy recommendations, research, and events) to the ASEM Education Process, and created opportunities for key Asian and European stakeholders to connect. ARC’s role as a valuable dialogue partner has been reiterated in all ASEMMEs, and its outcomes and outputs helped to sustain a dynamic ASEM Education Process. Take a look at the past editions here.
The ARC programme cycle covers two years and is aligned with the timeline of the ASEMMEs. Its results, including research, and policy recommendations, feed into the preparations for ASEM Education Senior Officials’ Meetings (SOMs) and the ASEM Education Ministers Meetings (MEs), which ARC experts are invited to attend.
ARC is currently running its ninth edition, which will be closing soon.
What is the topic for ARC9?
In December 2021, the 8th ASEM Education Ministers Meeting (ASEMME8) underlined the importance of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals with a focus on SDG4 and agreed that the ASEM Education Process can contribute to realising the SDGs and adopted sustainable development as a horizontal priority of the ASEM Education Process. Hence, ASEF decided to focus the ARC9 topic on this issue between 2022-2023.
BACKGROUND
ARC9 OBJECTIVES
Knowledge Exchange
Inform Policy
ARC9 is an initiative that facilitates knowledge exchange on good practices and networking. It also engaged in research aimed at informing policies in the ASEM Education Space and dialogues with stakeholders. Below are key information on ARC9’s two key components: the ARC9 report and its policy dialogue series.
The arc9 report
ASia-Europe Higher Education Mapping: Working Towards the SDGs
Policy dialogues
ASEF’s Education Department attended various dissemination events and organised policy dialogues from 2022 to 2023 to disseminate the findings of the research and gather recommendations from various stakeholders. The inputs we gathered thus far will be packaged and submitted to the 9th ASEM Education Ministers Meeting (ASEMME9) in 2024.
More details on our ARC9 engagements below!
This is the first in a series of dialogue events and took place online on 27 November 2022. In this session, the ARC9 researchers presented the initial findings of the study at the time while discussants gave questions and insights that contributed to the analysis of the data. Over 100 academics, students, policy makers and higher education experts joined us online to learn about the findings of this mapping exercise and engage in a discussion with each other.
You can check out our article on this session here to learn more.
On 18 July 2023, ASEF held this online dialogue workshop in partnership with the ASEAN University Network (AUN) and Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR). The session gathered 50 university managers and student leaders from ASEAN Plus Three higher education institutions (HEIs) to discuss the findings of the ARC9 research study and gather two sets of recommendations: one from university managers directed to policymakers, and another from student leaders addressed to university management.
Explore the full narrative report for this session where you can find the discussion highlights from both groups as well as the full list of recommendations here.
Policymakers and representatives of stakeholders involved in the ASEM Education Process gathered in the heart of Rome, Italy on 27-29 September 2023 for a policy dialogue aimed at discussing higher education’s role in sustainable development and pushing forward inter-regional cooperation on matters of common concern. This three-day event was co-organised by ASEF and the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) Coordination Group on Global Policy Dialogue (CG GPD), made possible by the generous support of the ASEM Education Secretariat and Associazione CIMEA through the IN-GLOBAL Project.
Around 30 participants from 19 countries and organisations engaged in dialogue focused on generating policy recommendations based on the findings of the ARC9 research study. Another key goal of the event was to give a platform for EHEA and officials representing Asian higher education ministries to discuss preparations for the Global Policy Forum which will take place next year.
An interview between Dr Romyen KOSAIKANONT and Orla LYNCH, Strategic Policy Adviser of Ireland’s Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science was also held in the sidelines of the policy dialogue. They exchanged ideas on a few topics, such as the value of dialogue opportunities and translating its results to actions, sharing of good practices between the two regions, and building stronger means to collaborate and partner. This interview, moderated by Ann Katherine ISAACS, can be watched in full here.
See the full update write-up and policy recommendation emerging from this workshop here.
For our last ARC9 policy dialogue, we had an inspiring exchange of ideas with 15 remarkable delegates from student and youth organisations in Asia and Europe about Higher Education Policies Working towards the SDGs in Asia and Europe! In partnership with the ASEAN Youth Organisation (AYO), we organised the ASEF Policy Dialogue with Youth as a side event to their flagship annual event, the ASEAN Youth Conference, which were held back-to-back from 2 to 5 November 2023 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
We welcomed representatives from ASEFEdu’s longtime partner organisations such as the European Students’ Union (ESU), Erasmus Student Network (ESN), Global Student Forum (GSF), Student Think-Tank for Europe-Asia Relations (STEAR), and AYO. We are also proud to have representatives from new dialogue partners such as the Asian International Mobility for Students (AIMS) Programme Alumni Network, the Union of Youth Federation of Cambodia, United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UN SDSN) Youth Initiative, Asian Law Students’ Association (ALSA), Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR), and University of Santo Tomas (UST).
After the policy dialogue, our delegates proceeded to join 100+ other young leaders in the ASEAN Youth Conference 2023. This year, guided by the theme “Guardians of the Sustainable Future for a Resilient ASEAN,” AYC gathered international young leaders and changemakers who are keen to share their thoughts about various persisting challenges and opportunities in our society and help develop and implement international projects.
You can find more information on this back-to-back event and policy recommendations of participants here.
POLICY DIALOGUE DOCUMENTS and updates
Have a look at ARC9's project documents below to know more about our event topics, discussion results, and participants.
Narrative reports were produced to capture the key points emerging from the policy dialogues, especially the policy recommendations that will be transmitted to the 9th ASEM Education Ministers Meeting (ASEMME9).
What's coming up?
ASEF successfully brought ARC9’s policy recommendations to ASEMME9!
ASEF, as one of the key stakeholders of the ASEM Education Process, participated in the 9th ASEM Education Ministers’ Meeting (ASEMME9) held on 25-26 January 2024 in Malta. Prior to this, the 2nd Senior Officials Meeting (SOM2) was also held.
The ASEFEdu team presented the work of ARC9, as the Official Dialogue Partner of the ASEMME. The Ministers from 26 partner countries noted the results with satisfaction and called on the senior officials to study the Policy Recommendations of the 9th ASEF Regional Conference on Higher Education, that were also included as annex to the ASEMME9 Chair’s Conclusions.
Readthe nes article for more information here.
DISSEMINATION EVENTS
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Project closing report
