This Episode will air at 11:30 am EDT on Saturday May 29^th [note different time]

Episode Description

Uliana Furiv, Associate Project Officer at the UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning, will discuss how flexibility has been important both during COVID-19 and before for enhancing the resilience of education systems. Whether students are entering, moving through, leaving, or returning to higher education, the more flexible the learning pathways, the more likely it is that systems will be able to adapt to change and new challenges. In 2018, IIEP has launched a project “SDG4: Planning for flexible learning pathways”. During the discussion, Uliana will share some good practices regarding promising policy options for creating more flexibility in higher education, as well as share some experiences of eight countries that have developed effective policies at both national and decentralised levels to ensure the impact of flexible education on all students, particularly the disadvantaged groups.

Trine Jensen, Manager, Higher Education & Digital Transformation, International Association of Universities, will discuss some of the changes she has observed as part of her work on developing a new IAU Policy Statement: Transforming Higher Education for the Common Global Good in a Digital World in collaboration with an Expert Advisory Group composed of members from around the world. The first draft of the statement was prepared prior to the pandemic and although many of the principles and values in the statement remain the same, the accelerated digital transformation during the pandemic has only emphasized the importance of this work and the discussions around it to outline what are the key issues at stake for the future of higher education and what are the essential principles and values that must accompany this transformation in an increasingly digital world.

More about the guests after the video.

Episode Guests

Uliana Furiv, Associate Project Officer, UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning
Uliana Furiv is Associate Project Officer at the UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP). She holds a Master’s degree in Administrative Science in Higher Education from Tampere University, Finland and Danube University Krems, Austria. Uliana coordinates the research activities of IIEP in the areas of higher education policy making, planning and management, and external quality assurance. From 2019 she has been coordinating a research project on flexible learning pathways in higher education which focuses on identifying policies and practices that support the implementation of flexibility in entry into, progression through and graduation from higher education.

Trine Jensen, Manager, Higher Education & Digital Transformation, International Association of Universities
Trine Jensen leads the work on the strategic priority Higher Education & Digital Transformation at the International Association of Universities (IAU) – an international NGO created by UNESCO 70 years ago. She is the author of the IAU Global Monitoring Report on Higher Education in the Digital Era: the Current State of Transformation around the World (January 2020). This consultation was conducted to inform a new IAU Policy Statement: “Transforming Higher Education for the Global Common Good in a Digital World” which she is developing in close collaboration with a dedicated Expert Advisory Group composed of members from different parts of the world. In 2019, she launched a new IAU programme entitled: “Institutional site visits” fostering international peer-to-peer learning in relation to digital transformation of higher education institutions. She is also co-editor of the Associations’ magazine IAU Horizons placing focus on different topics of interest to higher education. Trine Jensen worked several years for UNESCO as part of the Bureau for Strategic Planning before she joined the IAU in 2012.