Begin of the week I attended the Annual Conference of the Academic Cooperation Association ACA. The themne of the two day conference in Berlin was "The many faces of Internationalisation". It was the first time for me in this community and I found it extremely interesting how cooperation and internationalisation is viewed as a tool to reform structures and curricula in higher education institutions.

The conference clearly turned out to be a place where the question how universities have to look like in the future had a place and was discussed as a central theme. For me this was unexpected but very welcome and exciting!

In an excellent panel discussion Prof. Yehuda Elkana, Central European University, Hungary, outlined his vision of an agenda of change for future universities. He did not really 'leave one stone on the other' and promoted the reform and renewal of most of todays structures and contents in universities. In order to solve the future problem of an ageing society in a situation of limited resources and severe environmental problems, universities have to become places of innovation (again ?). He emphasized that this needed a completely different approach to teaching, so that students become identified again with what they do, develop motivation and self initiative - they have to become competent rather than (only) knowledgable. We need to tear down the limits of different disciplines and develop new interdisciplinary curricula. He claimed the necessity of a new liberal arts currículum for todays university programmes. It was amazing and I constantly found myself thinking a) that it is so right, b) that we discuss it already such a long time and c) that maybe now the global challenges are big enough to create a sufficient imperative of change. Maybe it is now a situation in which we can change structures - not only elaborate on innovation on conferences but live it in our own teaching/ research environments.

It was Kurt Biedenkopf, former prime Minister of the state of saxony, Germany, who took up these claims for change and put them into an agenda. He stated that it is in his view necessary to a) create more excellence through competition, b) redirect budgets to innovative initiatives and c) strengthen international cooperation. His background as a politician was a clear strength to the debate because he was taking a pragmatic viewpoint and contributed a frame how change can take place. however, still it remains abstract.

In discussion with other conference participants we later developped the feeling that it is no solution to wait until new policies reform our system but that we have to start today and immediatelly. Why not create a new international interest group for creating visions and implementing them in local small projects in our own university contexts? A global higher education think network. Lets start to think in ways how we can from our disciplinary viewpoint can make our research relevant to todays problems.

No?