Experts defend in Ecuador that universities become “glocal”

The need for the universities current be “glocals” to promote the economic and social development of the territories where they settle and, at the same time, to make a firm commitment to their internationalization are some of the conclusions agreed by experts from various countries who participated in a seminar in Ecuador.

This is how they defended him during the day “Internationalization and mobility: two great challenges for the university systems of Latin America”, held on Wednesday in Quito with the attendance, in person and online, of some 3,000 academics, organized by the International University of La Rioja (UNIR) and the University of the Armed Forces (ESPE) of Ecuador.

The participants, coming from, among other countries, Spain, Ecuador, Colombia and Peru, agreed that academic internationalization is a necessary and inevitable step in a globalized world based on the exchange of information and relationships, UNIR and ESPE detailed in a joint statement.

The president of the Higher Education Council (CES) of Ecuador, Pablo Beltrán, assured that “mobility and internationalization are two closely related concepts” and, in the university field, have as objective “expand knowledge, strengthen the exchange between students, professors and researchers, and between different cultures”.

For her part, the president of UNIR in Ecuador, Rosalía Arteaga, indicated that “the pandemic opened a space for virtual reality, to talk about internationalization, and to experience a technological revolution in the world of education”.

Arteaga, former president of Ecuador, defended that, in this context, “artificial intelligence is marking a revolution in the world of education”, which “will make us return to orality processes, whether virtual or face-to-face; and they will come to stay”.

The rector of the National University of Trujillo (Peru), Carlos Vázquez, pointed out that “Mobility has been developing more, thanks, in large part, to the pandemic, through virtuality as a modality in America”; Besides that “Mobility in Latin America occurs towards Spanish-speaking countries, especially neighboring countries”.

“Mobility is a great opportunity for growth and development, strengthening academic and research topics”, according to the rector of the Higher Polytechnic School of Chimborazo (Ecuador), Byron Vaca.

During his speech, the rector of ESPE, Colonel Víctor Emilio Villavicencio, commented that “Institutions should benefit from the experiences of others, in order to promote transnational education, integrating an international, intercultural and global dimension.”

His UNIR counterpart, José María Vázquez, considered that “the universities find their missions and meaning in providing service to the communities in which they settle” and “This service must be adapted to the social realities of their communities.”

Also participating in the seminar were, among other authorities, the rectors of the University of Cartagena (Colombia), William Malkun; from the State University of Bolívar (Ecuador), Arturo Rojas; and the rector of the National Polytechnic School of Ecuador, Florinella Muñoz.

Source: EFE