A Program for Generating New Strategies for Innovation in Education

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 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 commited to creative innovation. Today's realities compel a pardigmatic shift in higher educational aims and practices that will help to drive social, economic, political and cultural change.
The program provides a setting for current and potential leaders in the Asia-Pacific region to work collaboratively in developing new strategies for innovation in education. It primarily does this through four sets of activities:
- The Education Leadership Institute
- Senior Seminars for individuals from education, politics, business, media and cultural production concerned with creatively addressing the future educational needs of the region
- Publications of books and journal issues on subjects addressed in senior seminars
- A network of participant individuals and organizations