SARUA to launch digital strategy at conference

The Southern African Regional Universities Association (SARUA) will be hosting a virtual higher education conference themed “Higher Education Regional Collaboration: Opportunities in complex times?”

During the conference, scheduled for 20-21 April, SARUA’s newly formulated digital collaboration strategy will also be launched.

“The pressures of a deeply interconnected world require a stronger collective vision regarding our future and the longer-term needs of our societies,” says Professor Martin Oosthuizen, the executive director of SARUA.

The discussion of South-South cooperation with the North in the post-COVID period, an expression of the importance of regional cooperation in rebuilding internationalisation, is expected to be a highlight during the gathering.

SARUA is calling for papers and thought pieces on higher education in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.

Abstracts of 500 words are due by 5 March and could focus on regional collaboration in the post-COVID-19 period, opportunities for SADC universities to work together in addressing the Sustainable Development Goals, latest innovations in synchronous and asynchronous teaching during and after the pandemic, as well as leadership responsibilities.

Other sub-themes are digitalisation and digital transformation of higher education institutions, higher education internationalisation, and the SADC protocol on education and training.

In addition, abstracts could focus on topics such as the joint academic module development through regional collaboration at programme-specific level; climate change programme development as an example of blended learning; and understanding the programme and pedagogical challenges in developing blended learning programmes.

The conference will comprise focused plenary sessions, panel discussions and parallel sessions with participants, using a digital platform to engage and work in groups.

For more information, contact conference@sarua.org.