In 2018 ACA is planning various international events, continuing its long-established series of European Policy Seminars (EPSs), as well as exploring new event formats and locations, in cooperation with ACA members. 

9 February 2018 will mark the beginning of ACA’s 2018 events’ season, with the flagship EPS What's new in Brussels? Recent developments in European policies and programmes. Where? In Brussels, of course! Registrations are already open for a one-day programme that features top-level speakers from the EU institutions with important news and updates on: the new European Commission’s Communication, Towards a European Education Area by 2025, inspired greatly by France's President Emmanuel Macron; the results of the interim evaluations of the Erasmus+ and the Horizon 2020 programmes; as well as plans for the new generation of EU programmes – ‘Erasmus++’ and FP9.

If you’d like a change of scenery, you can join ACA and its Greek member organisation – IKY – in Athens on 27 April 2018, for a joint event under the topical title Anti-internationalism and threats to academic freedom. The seminar will bring together and explore two important and related questions: how internationalisation and cosmopolitanism can thrive in an era of populism, as well as how and where academic freedom and free scientific inquiry are at risk. The programme features seasoned professionals from Europe and the United States. Registrations will open in January 2018.

Back in Brussels, ACA will tackle, on 11 June 2018, a core theme for the organisation – internationalisation and impact assessment, at multiple levels (European, national, institutional). Via a one-day EPS by the title The impact of internationalisation – putting together the puzzle, and guided by experienced speakers coming from research institutes, stakeholder organisations, higher education institutions (practitioners), and governmental bodies, the event will take stock of the existing body of knowledge, data and anecdotal evidence on internationalisation. The aim is to jointly conclude what kind of impact-related questions can be answered with certainty, as well as to identity remaining gaps, to be filled by relevant research. Registrations will open in early March 2018.

The 3rd EPS of the year will be held, in the series’ spirit in Brussels, on 8 November 2018, and will explore the link between mobility and highly skilled migration. Titled Mobility-migration nexus: policies, practices, discourses and evidence, the one-day event will tackle the theoretical and practical grounds of the two phenomena, look at similarities and differences, types, flows, target groups (e.g. international student/staff vs. (im)migrant) and understanding/approaches by policymakers, practitioners (relevant institutions) and researchers. The event will also address misconceptions and policy dilemmas, and is meant to promote a more comprehensive view of student mobility that goes beyond the time spent in higher education. Registrations will open in early May 2018.

Beyond the above, ACA is preparing a number of surprises in 2018, so stay regularly tuned to the ACA website for related news.