On September 29–30, Mykolas Romeris University (MRU) Rector Prof. Dr. Inga Žalėnienė took part in the Nordic–Baltic Rectors’ Conference “How to Stay Global – Global Academic Collaboration in Times of Counterforces”, hosted by Tallinn University (Estonia). This high-level meeting brought together university leaders from across the region to jointly address the question of how to preserve academic openness and internationalization in the face of growing political, economic, and geopolitical challenges.
The discussions highlighted that international cooperation remains one of the key strengths of higher education: more than half of the scientific publications in the Nordic and Baltic countries are prepared in collaboration with foreign partners. However, the financing of mobility programmes and student diversity are facing challenges, while geopolitical tensions increasingly affect academic exchange.
“This conference opens up many opportunities for university leaders from the Nordic and Baltic countries to work together in addressing the challenges of maintaining and strengthening global academic ties. The discussions held during the event help to find a balance between national policy priorities and the long-term goals of international cooperation. Such meetings of university leaders foster mutual trust among institutions and reinforce the idea of an open academic space in a complex geopolitical situation. Moreover, the exchange of practical experiences and the search for common strategies provide universities with tools to adapt more successfully to the rapidly changing global context and to better respond to societal expectations,” stressed MRU Rector, Vice-President of the International Association of Universities, Prof. Dr. Inga Žalėnienė.
The participation of the MRU Rector in this forum reaffirmed the University’s commitment to being an active member of the international higher education community, to bringing together partners across the region, and to defending the values of academic openness and cooperation.