This brand of internationalisation offers a win-win outcome

Over the last five years, the concept of internationalisation in higher education for society (IHES) has become rather popular, especially in Latin America. Coined during a project for the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) in 2019, it describes the power and dynamics of using internationalisation in higher education (mobility and internationalisation at home) to develop global mindsets in the wider population outside higher education.

Responding to the requirement for international higher education to be more connected with local, national and societal needs, IHES is especially powerful in settings where there are small regional higher education institutions in rural areas outside the main metropolitan centres and, in particular, capital cities.

It is a win-win approach because all sides benefit: societies broaden their mindsets and become more competitive globally, students improve their teaching, training and mentoring skills when working with audiences outside higher education and academics apply scientific approaches to practical problems.

So what is IHES and what is its measurable impact in projects initiated in Latin America? And crucially, how could these projects transfer to other countries?

Creating global mindsets

With the rise of many global crises, notably climate change, it has become obvious that internationalisation has to be understood within a wider societal framework.

Consequently, in 2018, Uwe Brandenburg coined the term ‘Internationalisation in Higher Education for Society – IHES’. In 2019, he developed, with Hans de Wit, Elspeth Jones and Betty Leask, the IHES concept, describing the power and dynamics of using internationalisation in higher education (mobility and internationalisation at home) to develop global mindsets in the wider population outside higher education.

IHES is situated in the overlap between social engagement and internationalisation; two areas that are not well-connected in most higher education institutions.

IHES is a practical concept which uses the international assets of higher education institutions for the benefit of the wider community with the goal of creating global mindsets in all the citizens of a country, county, region or city. In an increasingly interconnected world, every single citizen needs to understand the global relevance of their actions and the effects that actions elsewhere have on them.

Higher education institutions are ideally equipped to develop this global mindset due to their international connections and activities. Moreover, IHES tackles one of the major issues of traditional internationalisation: usually internationalisation in higher education is understood as mobility, which in fact only involves up to 10% of the students and staff in an institution.

IHES, on the other hand, is mainly about internationalisation at home, ie, bringing the world to people. The international assets already available at higher education institutions (for example, students and staff returning from study or research abroad, incoming students and staff, international staff members and degree-seeking students, etc) can be used for the wider public at no significant extra cost.

The Global Impact Institute (GII) showcased many successful projects during the 2020 and 2021 IHES conferences. Since then, the GII has been participating in several IHES Erasmus+ projects: IHES project 1 (2020-23), the DITE project 2, which focuses on internationalising teacher education (2021-24) and the SENSEI Academy 3 (one of 16 prestigious teacher academies funded by the EU) (2023-26).

A binding framework in Latin America

Julio Labraña et al (2023) highlight how top-tier Latin American higher education institutions – following the global IHES trend 4 – strategically emphasise societal engagement as a key component of internationalisation, aligning with the mission of Latin American universities to contribute to societal development and address pressing social issues by connecting local contexts with the global landscape.

Several initiatives in Latin America have similarly connected internationalisation with societal needs. In 2023, the European Commission approved two capacity-building projects for the Latin American region: BeGlobal and BecomeGlocal. These initiatives focus on aligning education with community needs, particularly through curricular innovations.

Additionally, in 2024, ICETEX, the Colombian government agency, launched an IHES project called LIVETAPLA, a laboratory designed to identify internationalisation initiatives addressing societal needs in universities across Argentina, Chile and Colombia. These projects illustrate the growing interest in aligning institutional activities with the needs of local communities.

For Latin American institutions, the integration of teaching, research and community engagement is not new. These institutions have long responded to local and global societal demands through community engagement.

They also reflect on their role within the societies they serve, considering both connection with place and internationalisation projections. These institutions emphasise the importance of engaging with both local and international communities to seek joint solutions.

Community engagement in Latin American higher education institutions is marked by public commitment, a sense of mutual benefit and strong integration with teaching and research, as outlined in various policies and laws. Universities must be deeply connected to the places they serve, ensuring relevance to the needs of the population.

UNESCO-IESALC’s 2024 Higher Education Policy Observatory identifies key themes within the legislative objectives of the Latin American higher education sector, including, in particular, social responsibility, culture and sustainability. Furthermore, the top five dimensions and objectives of national higher education plans are access, inclusion, quality, internationalisation and relevance.

This suggests that primary motivations of the higher education sector are closely linked to the socio-economic challenges faced by the region. Accordingly, internationalisation is a key objective in the national higher education plans of countries such as Mexico, French Guiana, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil and Uruguay.

In the region, internationalisation is regarded as a driving force for quality education and the preparation of global citizens, with the resolution of local issues seen as a direct consequence. IHES seems to be the binding framework for these ideas.

Chilean universities

Although Chile is not included in the policy observatory, Chilean state universities play a crucial role in the nation’s development. According to the Chilean Law on State Universities (21.094, 25 May 2018), these institutions must support the state and address the needs and interests of society.

They are tasked with implementing programmes that promote cultural, social, territorial, artistic, scientific, technological, economic and sustainable development, while considering the diverse regions and peoples of the country.

By law, state universities must ensure the training of professionals in a way that promotes critical, reflective thinking, rational dialogue and tolerance and contributes to fostering citizenship based on ethical, democratic, civic values, social solidarity and respect for native peoples and the environment. An analysis of the missions of Chile’s 18 state universities reflects this.

These goals are closely aligned with the aims of internationalisation, which seeks to promote global understanding and cultural exchange in an interconnected world. It can thus be inferred that the mandate for Chile’s universities to integrate these elements into their missions invites them to adopt internationalisation, integrating global, intercultural and international dimensions into their activities.

The mission statements of these universities define their identity, role and purpose within the societies and territories they serve.

Key elements identified in these mission statements – such as sustainable development, social responsibility, intercultural relations, respect for indigenous peoples, human rights, democracy, inclusion, equity, gender, innovation and environmental care – align with global challenges and some Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These mission elements also point to a commitment to international engagement, although to a lesser extent.

This aligns with the concept of internationalisation used in this study, which is reflected in the mission statements of most of the higher education institutions examined. These institutions integrate an international, intercultural or global dimension into their core purposes, aiming to provide quality education and research while making significant contributions to regional, national and international communities.

Brazilian research chair

In 2014, the state of Rio Grande do Sul, situated in the southernmost region of Brazil, was severely impacted by a historic flood, which affected approximately 2.4 million individuals. In response to this disaster, and with the goal of aiding the state to restore its economic stability and to address the social issues caused by the climate crisis, the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS) has approved the establishment of the Fulbright Brazil-US Studies Chair for the period of 2025 to 2029.

The chair’s project, titled “Sustainable Climate Change Preparedness, Response, and Recovery in Rio Grande do Sul through International Academic Cooperation”, is the result of a comprehensive analysis of the flood’s impact.

The initiative will adopt an interdisciplinary approach to the challenges posed by climate change, focusing on risk mitigation, damage reduction and sustainable reconstruction, while emphasising the crucial role of interaction between academia and society.

An excellent concept

Our analysis suggests that IHES is one of the few concepts that works well and is transferable to any part of the globe. It is not bound by cultural stereotypes or boundaries, can be adapted to any society and is intrinsically connected to the concept of impact, serving as an effective means of measuring the contribution of higher education institutions to the sustainable development of their communities.

Higher education has to interact with the wider public, teachers need to educate the next generations and populations are ageing and have to adapt their older citizens to a rapidly changing world.

It is only a matter of how we define the scope and depth of such interaction because the key power of IHES is to bring the world to every citizen and connect them with the global community through colleges and universities. Not least, we are convinced that IHES is an excellent concept for community colleges because of its ‘real-life’ relevance.

Uwe Brandenburg is managing director of the Global Impact Institute in Prague, Czech Republic. Carla Camargo Cassol is the founder of IHub and a specialist in the internationalisation of education. Paulina Latorre serves as director of community engagement at Universidad Autónoma de Chile, Temuco, Chile. She is a doctoral candidate in the Internationalisation of Higher Education (CHEI) programme at Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milán, Italy.

This article is a commentary. Commentary articles are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of University World News.