APAIE 2022: Ready to Brave New Realities for Higher Education?

Next week, Deborah Morrison from Virtual Internships will be attending the remote Asia- Pacific Association for International Education (APAIE 2022) – conference to promote an exciting and innovative partnership! The theme of the conference this year is Brave New Realities for Higher Education in Asia-Pacific. With that in mind, Deborah, alongside Ailsa Lamont (the founder of Pomegranate Global) and Linsell Richards (from Victoria University of Wellington in NZ),  will showcase The Climate Action Virtual Internships Program, otherwise known as CAVI.

The presentation, entitled A Case Study of New Generation Climate Action Internships, will take place on March 30th at 10:30 am. The presenters will share their experiences and insights from the new and innovative virtual internship program focused on practical climate action. Earlier this year, Pomegranate Global and Virtual Internships teamed up to deliver this unique program for students at Australian and New Zealand universities, but the possibilities for expanding this globally are endless.  The students were matched up in pairs and assigned to businesses across the Asia Pacific region to act as consultants and deliver a Climate Action Plan to help the business improve its environmental performance. 

This exciting presentation showcases innovation and is a true example of giving a certain segment of students exactly what they want in terms of gaining work experience in a position that helps them contribute to a sustainable, climate-conscious world.

Other highlights of APAIE this year include keynote addresses from CNN host, Fareed Zackaria, and CEO of the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, Roberta Jamieson.

Sessions cover topics from Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL), to remote internships, to the role of education in climate justice. It promises to be both informative, interactive, and proactive in providing concrete calls to action for all international educators.

Collaborating with Pomegranate Global provided the perfect synergy to deliver this forward-thinking and impactful program. They are so aptly named as the pomegranate represents infinite possibilities – a multitude of seeds, each of which can burst into life if nurtured under the right conditions – just like our students!

Having seen the impact of this program, we’re confident that the possibilities for expanding this incentive globally are endless. We look forward to seeing the program thrive and to seeing students worldwide engage in meaningful work experiences.