The International Forum for Education 2020 was initiated by the East-West Center to address the need for new paradigms in higher education that will respond to transforming economic, social and cultural changes. These changes result from increased globalization, heightened interdependency and uneven development among nations. The core of any society’s capacity to deal with such dramatic change lies in its educational system. Rapidly accelerating and uneven change calls for educational responses that go beyond simply reforming existing institutions.

Because of the fast pace of change, higher educational institutions face a deepening crisis that yields to no single solution. Educational systems must be attuned to the specific ways in which globalization impacts local conditions, and they must be capable of and committed to creative innovation.

Today’s realities compel a paradigmatic shift in higher educational aims and practices that will help to drive social, economic, political and cultural change.

The International Forum for Education (IFE) 2020 is committed to fostering educational change that helps to build local, national and regional communities where conflicts can be resolved peacefully, diversity can be enriched, and development can be sustainable and equitable. Following its historic mission of responding to issues critical to the well-being of the Asia-Pacific community, the East-West Center