PEER project hosts first conference to encourage collaboration in higher education between Southeast Asia and the UK
On 28 June 2022, ‘UK-Southeast Asia Partnerships and Exchanges Baseline Research’ (PEER), an international project fully supported by Lingnan University as a partner and Vice-President Prof Joshua Mok Ka Ho as a consultant, welcomed global delegates to their first seminar and roundtable policy dialogue, which focused on inclusive, equal, and sustainable higher education partnerships.
The forum with a theme of ‘We cannot take inclusive and equal partnerships for granted’ attracted over 450 international participants online and onsite at Chulalongkorn University, Thailand’s first established university, with discussions recommending sustainable and constructive collaboration between Southeast Asia and the United Kingdom.
Roundtable panellists included policy makers, university leaders, regional experts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), alumni and researchers, who talked about creating inclusive and equal future partnerships. Professor Joshua Mok, being part of the research team examining partnerships for research and innovation, highlighted the importance of mutual trust and respect when fostering deep collaboration. Treating Asian institutions as equal partners when embarking research collaboration is core to the success of productive partnerships.
The PEER project is an international research study led by Coventry University in the UK and funded by the British Council. PEER brings together ten UK-based and ten Asia-based researchers in three work packages to examine bilateral, multilateral and regional partnerships in higher education, technical and vocational education and training, and research and innovation, between the UK and 15 East Asian countries and territories in the past decade.