The Seville Campus of Loyola University hosted in September the International Education Conference IAJU 2022, which brought together more than a hundred representatives of Jesuit universities from 28 countries around the world, from South Korea and Japan to Argentina, Chile, El Salvador and Mexico, as well as Lebanon, Australia, the United States, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Madagascar, Germany, Sweden and Italy, among others.
This meeting, which is being held for the second time after the edition held at the Ibero-American University of Puebla (Mexico) in 2019, brings together the vice-rectors and heads of International Relations of Jesuit universities from around the world to establish opportunities for collaboration and networking, strengthen ties and alliances with the aim of working together in the service of the shared mission as institutions of the Society of Jesus.
The various presentations addressed some of the priority lines of work for the universities of the Society of Jesus, which are members of the International Association of Jesuit Universities (IAJU), the largest network of higher education institutions in the world, comprising more than 180 centres on five continents. Thus, the need to strengthen networking was highlighted, always combining local and global strategies, in order to better respond to the challenges of the 21st century, and to train students as global citizens, with a vocation to improve the world.
One of the central conferences of this congress was given by Joseph Christie SJ, Secretary for Higher Education of the Society of Jesus and President of IAJU, who considered this meeting to be "fundamental for the exchange of experiences and good practices, as well as for joint reflection". During his speech, Christie recalled that "the higher education institutions of the Society of Jesus constitute the largest global educational network" and therefore "we have a great responsibility before us".
Among the conclusions drawn at the end of the programme of presentations and exchanges, Borja Martín Garrido, Director of International Relations at Loyola University, pointed out that the association must gain visibility, for example, by seeking synergies with professional associations such as the European EAIE, the American AEIA and NAFSA and the Asian APAIE, so that Jesuit universities are represented in these groups with their own voice. He also mentioned the need for a more egalitarian international representation within the association that would allow us to learn more from other realities such as those experienced in Africa or Southeast Asia and, above all, to create a common identity under a culture of generosity.
Jesuitas España
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