Agile and Innovative International Relations Officers

for Internationalisation in a New Context

IRO Capacity Building Workshop held in conjunction with the

17^th Annual Review Meeting of the AIMS Programme

10 November 2023

Tagaytay City, Philippines

The Capacity Building Workshop “Agile and Innovative International Relations Officers for Internationalisation in a New Context” was held back-to-back with the 17^th Annual Review Meeting, by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Philippines in collaboration with SEAMEO RIHED.

The workshop addressed relevant topics to prepare IROs and university faculty and staff involved in internationalisation with the mindset and skills to be resilient to the new and current challenges, as well as strengthened the regional community of IROs through the sharing of good practices. Over 70 participants from AIMS Member Universities joined the workshop. Ms. Porntip Kanjananiyot, and Ms. Lakhana Dockiao, Special Advisors of SEAMEO RIHED, led the workshop.

 Atty. Lily Freida Macabangun-Milla, Officer in Charge, Office of the Deputy Executive Director, Director III, International Affairs Service, Commission on Higher Education, Philippines, Dr. Virginia D. Akiate, CESO IV, Regional Director, CHEDRO IV, and Asst. Prof. Dr. Romyen Kosaikanont, Centre Director, SEAMEO RIHED, during the Opening, welcomed the participants and stressed the importance of IROs in supporting the internationalisation process and in fostering future and inclusive learners.

To support the common space for learning, a definition of internationalisation for the region was proposed by SEAMEO RIHED:

“Internationalisation for the region is a process in which key stakeholders working together to integrate international, intercultural dimensions into our shared regional purpose, functions and delivery of higher education in order to enhance quality of learning and research as its unique regional wisdom for sustainable future of our region and world community.”

Mr. Darren McDermott, Expert in Internationalisation, Former EU SHARE Team Leader, in his keynote address on “Redefined Internationalisation in Transformative Higher Education”, compared internationalisation process with running a marathon, which requires energy, endurance, resilience, and the support of the community to be sustainable.

The RIHED-SHARE was launched, with the introduction of the platform and the Community of Practice (CoP) to the participants. The RIHED-SHARE serves to share knowledge and resources on higher education in the region. Participants can connect with fellow professionals, peers and expert in Southeast Asian Higher Education and contribute to the regional collective intelligence. Sign up today!

During the mind-setting activities, participants were challenged to break away from the rules and regulations. In following sessions, common challenges were identified, and many good practices were shared on IRO’s role, including seeing the role from the big picture, mentoring and coaching, stress management and welfare (crisis management), networking and problem solving.

Finally, participants worked together to form their internationalization supersonic shuttles and agreed that internationalisation requires synergy, teamwork, togetherness, and Asian context and awareness to be meaningful and fun!

Internationalisation serves as a guiding vision and IROs play a vital role in leading the way for innovation.

SEAMEO RIHED extends heartfelt gratitude to the Commission for Higher Education Philippines for their invaluable support in organizing the IRO Workshop and to all the facilitators, speakers, and moderators for their inputs and contribution:

 Dr. Laurene Chua-Garcia, Vice-President, External Relations and Internationalization, De La Salle University;

Dr. Sergel I. Dacut, Linkages and International Affairs Supervisor, Lyceum University of the Philippines- Batangas;

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd Hafizal Mohd Isa, Deputy Director of International Mobility and Collaboration Centre (IMCC), Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia;

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nakao Nomura, Regional Director for SE Asia and Taiwan, Office of Global Initiatives, Director for Division of International Exchange Support, University of Tsukuba, Japan;

Ms. Warunee Kaewbunruang, AIMS Programme Coordinator, Global Relations Division, Mae Fah Luang University, Thailand;

Ms. Ida Puspita, Head of International Office, Ahmad Dahlan University, Indonesia; and

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Fiffy Hanisdah Saikim, Executive Secretary AIMS Malaysia, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia.

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