Taking Home from PIE Annual Meeting 2025
Thursday 12 June 2025
 The warmth of Barcelona and the energy of international peers created the perfect setting for the PIE Annual Meeting 2025. Together, we asked a bold question: What is the true added value of internationalisation? What emerged was more than a shared understanding, it was a call to rethink internationalisation itself. From the outset, we questioned familiar structures. In her opening speech, Aparajita Dutta shared the highlights of her research, challenging common assumptions, as on the use of English in international contexts. We explored themes of belonging, relational practice, and community, ideas grounded in lived experience and institutional realities. These conversations are crucial to reframing internationalisation as a human, ethical, and institutional responsibility. 
Across sessions, we explored how international offices and academic departments can work with, rather than next to each other. It challenged us to examine where “international” sits in our institutions and how visible or invisible its work can be.
Participants reflected on the value and impact of internationalisation in Higher Arts Education, opening up essential questions:
- Where do international affairs sit within institutions?
- Is mobility (for students and staff) part of a strategic vision?
- What are the systematic limitations of internationalisation? How internationalisation impact offices and academic departments to collaborate more closely?
These conversations laid the groundwork for a series of rich parallel sessions, each offering diverse international viewpoints and strategic insights. Key themes that emerged: - Rethinking Mobility: Moving from quantity to quality of exchange; prioritising sustainability, inclusivity, and reciprocity.
- Joint Educational Formats: Designing beyond the traditional Erasmus model — BIPs and student-led initiatives emerged as powerful alternatives.
- Strategic Alliances: Transitioning from time-limited projects to durable institutional partnerships.
- Ethics of Partnership: A crucial session that examined power dynamics in international collaborations.
- Multilingual and Multimodal Expression: From sign language in art to cross-cultural beauty education, internationalisation came alive in new forms.
PIE 2025 sessions took us on a tour of what internationalisation really looks like in higher arts education institutions. Participants explored how international mobility shapes artistic careers. Reimagining digital collaboration in the post-pandemic world, experimenting with creative tech tools and hybrid learning methods. One session spotlighted beauty education as a model for global change, blending entrepreneurship, sustainability, and cross-cultural learning. Blended Intensive Programmes (BIPs) were highlighted as a powerful format for inclusion and interdisciplinary exchange, with practical insights into navigating the admin maze creatively. Sessions also spotlighted inclusive PhD pathways, and how sign language can be a powerful mode of artistic and multilingual expression, not a limitation. An artistic intervention by student from Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya - ESMUC complemented the programme. Their live performance reminded us that internationalisation in arts education is something we practice, perform, and experience together.  The Open Space session brought together groups to explore the realities of international collaboration. What began as informal group conversations quickly evolved into rich, multi-layered discussions about the challenges and opportunities in international education today. Conversations touched on working creatively within tight budgets, motivating professors, and aligning short-term mobility with academic goals. Another key topic was the importance of gaining perspectives from countries with different environments and student populations, as well as, understanding their unique situation. We need to keep the conversation going, both institutionally and individually. Discussions also focused on civic engagement, ethical responsibility, and the role of institutions in times of political uncertainty. Participants stressed the importance of flexibility, reciprocity, and thinking beyond traditional models, like partnering with local organisations or piloting micro-mobility projects. Despite varied contexts, a shared message was clear: dialogue and collaboration remain essential. The diversity of voices from across Europe and beyond added depth, reminding us that inclusive international education must be both practical and principled. As one participant said: "our institutions are political. We cannot go around that." We didn’t leave with all the answers, but we left with renewed energy, concrete ideas, and a sense of collective purpose. As one participant said, "We have to keep talking." The Added Value of PIE 2025 wasn’t only in its theme but in its collective refusal to simplify internationalisation into checklists or targets. What emerged instead was a call for practices that are slow, intentional, and relational. The work continues but (for now) we leave Barcelona with new questions, deeper convictions, and a strong sense of what’s possible when we imagine internationalisation differently. Aparajita Dutta reminded us that our greatest Added Value is that we do this work for a good reason. "It is the community, we are the community, and thank you for being the PIE community." We would like to thank all who brought insights, curiosity, and creative energy: - Our hosts Escola d'Art i Disseny Llotja ESDAP - Escola Superior de Disseny i d'Arts Plàstiques
- all speakers and presenters
- organising team at Escola d'Art i Disseny Llotja, Jordi Guillemí and Felip Vidal Auladell, and Ricard Roura i Rodon at ESDAP - Escola Superior de Disseny i d'Arts Plàstiques
- all technicians and extra staff for their support
- PIE Working Group Members: Aparajita Dutta, Thomas Greenough, Vit Havranek, Sandra Mell
- Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya - ESMUC and their students
- all volunteers
- and every participant
We’re excited to announce that the PIE Annual Meeting 2026 will take place in Vilnius, Lithuania, hosted by Vilnius Academy of Arts, from 3 – 5 June 2026. We hope to see you there!
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