Kuala Lumpur, 31 July 2023 – The British Council-funded UK-Malaysia University Consortium (UK-MUC)’s Student Conference 2023 brought together close to 100 students from 28 UK and Malaysian universities to discuss and identify solutions to global challenges related to sustainable development and equality in higher education.
The conference, which was held from 17 to 21 July 2023 at Universiti Malaya, was organized by UK-MUC’s Secretariat, Liverpool John Moores University. It was supported by fellow consortium members Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Universiti Putra Malaysia.
The conference’s theme, “Intercultural Perspectives on Sustainable Development and Equality in Higher Education,” was reflected in the various activities that took place, including lectures, workshops, and cultural events. One of the highlights of the conference was the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) Sustainable Development Goals’ Challenge, which required participants to work together to identify real-life issues related to 21st century global challenges and propose solutions that included specific SDG goals to be achieved.
The winning team in the COIL Challenge was COIL Group Nine, who presented their “Fastainable Fashion” pitch. The winning poster in the poster competition was “Overconsumption Global Culture” by Poster Group Nine.
In her closing remarks, Prabha Sundram, Head of Education at the British Council Malaysia, said that she was “delighted that through the British Council’s Going Global Partnership programme, the UK-Malaysia University Consortium was launched to work collaboratively on projects that expand higher education capacity, quality, mobility, and employability.” She added that the British Council hoped to make the conference an annual event for UK and Malaysia.
Professor Tim Nichol, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University, said that the conference’s theme reflected the core values and mission of the Consortium. “As a Consortium, we strive to provide a platform for collaboration, exchange of ideas, and joint initiatives to address the common challenges and opportunities in higher education,” he said.
Yang Berbahagia Datin Noorazah binti Omar, Undersecretary at the International Relations Division of the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia, said that the conference was “a perfect opportunity for all participating students to share and learn new insights from your peers from both the UK and Malaysia on solving these global challenges creatively and to actively engage in the issues surrounding international education and internationalisation.”
The UK-Malaysia University Consortium was launched in 2022 and brings together all 20 of Malaysia’s public universities and 16 UK higher education institutions. Its purpose is to greatly expand the scale, scope and pace of long-term international higher education engagement and collaboration between the two countries, and with partners in the wider ASEAN network and beyond.
For more information on the UK-Malaysia University Consortium, please visit the British Council Malaysia’s website: https://www.britishcouncil.my/programmes/education/work/going-global-partnerships
