TEFCE expert Thomas Farnell (Institute for the Development of Education) participated in a thematic session entitled Internationalisation and community engagement – can they work together? that was organised by TEFCE partner Catalan Association of Public Universities (ACUP). The session was moderated by Irina Ferencz, Academic Cooperation Association (ACA), and the speakers were TEFCE expert Josep M. Vilalta (GUNi/ACUP) and  Thomas Farnell.

The presentations discussed why the topic of universities’ societal impact and engagement with their external communities is becoming an increasing priority worldwide and how this agenda can connect to the internationalisation agenda in higher education. The conclusion of the session was that although community engagement and internationalisation may appear to be disconnected or even competing priorities, there are many ways to connect these areas and good practices were presented.

The presentation is available in the section www.tefce.eu/consultations.