International education on the Gold Coast

The Asia-Pacific Association for International Education (APAIE) is a not-for-profit organisation whose goal is to activate and reinforce the internationalisation of higher education in the Asia-Pacific region and around the world, and to engage individuals with the professional challenges of international education.

Each year APAIE holds an international conference and exhibition hosted by a university in the Asia-Pacific Region. Previous APAIE conferences have been hosted by Korea University (Seoul, Korea), the National University of Singapore (Singapore), Waseda University (Tokyo, Japan) and Renmin University (Beijing, China).

In 2010 the APAIE Conference and Exhibition was hosted by Griffith University, and was held at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre (GCCEC) from 14–16 April. The three-day event provided a forum for more than 900 academic participants from 33 countries representing 462 universities to discuss ‘educating for global challenges in a rapidly changing world’.

The program

Topics spanned from climate change, to infectious disease, to the role of higher education in managing extreme events shaping the world. The event also created opportunities to form academic partnerships and research collaborations to problem-solve some of the biggest societal and geographical challenges facing the world.

Former Prime Minister of Australia, the Hon Bob Hawke AC, presented the official welcome speech, emphasising the importance of Australia’s relationship with the Asia-Pacific, the unparalleled periods of change currently shaping our world, and the role of higher education in guiding academics in creating new paths to uplift the standard of humanity.

The delegates

Large delegations attended from South Korea, Taiwan, Canada, Germany, China, France, Japan, the United States, the Netherlands and New Zealand. The diversity of the event was reflected in the percentages of delegates from different regions, including 36 per cent from Oceania, 31 per cent from Asia, 21 per cent from Europe, 11 per cent from the USA and Canada, and 1 per cent from other regions.

The venue

While the conference sessions were held at the GCCEC, delegates stayed at Jupiters Hotel and Casino, the Sofitel Gold Coast, Marriott, Crowne Plaza and various other properties. The three-day conference included an off-site event at the Australian Outback Spectacular at Oxenford, and day trips to Bond University and Griffith University’s Nathan Campus in Brisbane.

The highlight of the event was a gala dinner for 900 guests at the GCCEC, and the conference concluded with a farewell reception at Griffith University’s Gold Coast campus.

About Griffith University

Since the arrival of Griffith’s first international student in 1975, the university has continued its passion to develop relations with Asia.

Griffith has developed over 200 partnerships with institutions in Asia for staff and student exchanges, research collaborations, joint supervision of post-graduate students and joint publications scholarship programs with governments and ministries of health and environment in China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Taiwan; and articulation pathways and joint programs for students and alumni networks.

Excellent feedback

Griffith University conducted a post-event evaluation survey that was sent out to all the attending delegates, and which received a total of 195 respondents.

Overall, attendees were extremely satisfied with this year’s APAIE Conference. Food and catering was rated as the element which satisfied guests the most, and Bob Hawke was the most popular guest speaker.

Overall, the networking opportunities which APAIE on the Gold Coast provided were highly valued by attendees and were shown to be an important factor when determining conference attendance in the future.

The APAIE 2011 Conference and Exhibition will be hosted by the National Taiwan University next March in Taipei.