I am very pleased to report that an application led by the EU Centre at RMIT, host of the the PASCAL Centre for Australasia, for a Jean Monnet Network on the role of the EU in the implementation of the SDGs in Asia Pacific has been supported. This also involves colleagues from the Australian National University (ANU), the University of Canterbury, the University of Glasgow and the National University of Singapore (NUS), including PASCAL Directors, Robbie Guevera and MIke Osborne.

This three-day intensive program is run jointly by the Monash European and EU Centre, the ANU Centre for European Studies, the European Union Centre at RMIT, and the New Zealand European Union Centres Network, with support from the European Commission. It offers a unique opportunity for teachers of History, Global Politics, Social and Cultural Studies, Economics, and European Languages to engage with diverse expert speakers on topics that complement secondary school curricula.

Dr Barbara Ischinger, Director of Education at the OECD, visited Melbourne recently to launch the report of the OECD Review of Higher Education Institutions and Regional and City Development in Victoria. This review was conducted in parallel with the PASCAL Universities and Regional Engagement (PURE) project in Melbourne.

Jarl Bengtsson, Chair of the PASCAL Board visited Melbourne recently. During his visit, he met with PASCAL Associates and other colleagues, and visited the new location in the European Union Centre at RMIT. During his visit, Jarl presented a seminar on ‘Education, Learning  and Brain Research: An International Perspective’. His paper generated rich discussion, and will be available shortly on the PASCAL website.