A report from PIE Annual Meeting 2022

ELIA’s Head of Programmes, Barbara Revelli reports back from Bratislava after an energising two days at this year’s PIE meeting.

After two years of virtual gatherings, the Platform for Internationalisation ELIA – PIE finally met again in person in Bratislava, Slovakia, warmly welcomed by the sun and our hosts at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava. This two-day event touched upon many facets of Internationalisation, bringing together ELIA members old and new.

The programme started with a deep immersion into the national context. Michel Fedàk carried us through trends and an in-depth analysis of international students and academic staff operations in Slovakia. He discussed how 'the exchange' is influenced by political change.

This was followed by a closer look at student migration due to the war in Ukraine.   The audience then welcomed our colleagues from the Lviv National Academy of Arts in Ukraine with warm and supportive applause.   Vasyl Kosiv and Taras Lesiv expressed their appreciation for ELIA members represented in the room who have welcomed with open arms their students fleeing the current conflict. Speaking online from Lviv, the Rector and Vice-Rector shared their students' stories and their own experiences running an institution of higher arts education in a time of war.   

"We are extremely grateful to the governments in your countries and all the art schools for their support. However, this support requires that we leave Ukraine. Many students, teachers, artists and scholars from Ukraine are being offered various programs abroad. Of course, this is extremely important, but we also need support here at home. After all, the outflow of students and staff to the West comes at the risk of the institutional destruction of art education.  Let me just announce that we are currently working on creating a fund to support art education in Ukraine. To paraphrase the well-known remark of our President Zelensky, "We need a support for art education in Ukraine, not an evacuation". 

Vasyl Kosiv, Rector, Lviv National Academy of Arts   

The poignant speech of our colleagues in Ukraine reminded us of the value of liberty and academic freedom and the work that lies ahead in terms of recovery. The day continued with further study of the complex challenges facing Internationalisation today.  

'How are you implementing a borderless internationalisation strategy?' was a question that opened a lively debate. Participants reflected on the meaning of borders and shared thoughts and experiences on how institutional strategies are developed and implemented within institutions. It soon became apparent that universities and academies in the ELIA community are at different stages when it comes to Internationalisation. Some schools have a strategy which is fully integrated into the institutional action plan; others don't have sufficient resources available and are struggling with the administrative workload. 

In general, the PIE community shared a need for Internationalisation to be taken to the next level and to be embraced by the whole institution. Internationalisation strategies are too often seen solely as a student recruitment tool led by the internationalisation office. However, the growth of an international student population requires the intercultural awareness of the academic staff and a careful look at the curriculum. The implementation of strategies focusing on Internationalisation at home is gaining more and more interest, and it shows great potential when placed hand in hand with EDI strategies aiming to diversify the student population.    

Kvet Nguyen, an alumnus of the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, started the second day with another touching presentation that pushed the debate on diversity, inclusion and what arts and Internationalisation (at home, in this case) can do contribute to it. From Vietnamese descendants, Kvet presented her artistic work and shared her search for identity through her artistic practice. 'I turned my identity into my superpower', said Kvet while she explained the importance of cultural diversity and its recognition inside higher arts education institutions.   

To close the day, the PIE community dived deep into the development and implementation of internationalisation strategies. Each institution has a specific context to consider when developing its scheme. The peer-learning in this area proved to be extremely valuable, as it allows colleagues to adopt methods used by others and adapt these strategies to their specific institutional context. Furthermore, the PIE community discussed the potential and the need for research in the field of Internationalisation. PIE chair, Aparaijta Dutta shared with the participants the preliminary findings of her PhD, highlighting commonalities and differences when it comes to arts and arts education.   

And finally, the PIE Annual Meeting closed with a well-earned slice of pie. Thank you to our wonderful hosts who treated us so well.   Once more, we'd like to thank all participants, speakers, and hosts for joining the PIE Annual Meeting 2022 in Bratislava. Soon we will share the Call for Hosts for the 2023 PIE meeting. Would you like to host next year's meeting on Internationalisation? Stay tuned and register to the PIE Platform for updates. If you missed the PIE meeting in Bratislava, the recordings of the plenary sessions are now available to ELIA members in the members' space, MyELIA.