FLAUC Council Meeting 2019 Report
May 25th, 2019 (Sat)
5I Hall, Shanghai International Convention Centre (SICC)
Shanghai, China
Overview:
The FLAUC Council Meeting 2018 is generally based on the reports of each member universities about their achievements during the past working year, and the new initiatives of the next working year.
Attendees (in alphabetical order by country and university):
ØFLAUC Member Universities:
Brazil:
University of Campinas:
Mariano Francisco Laplane, Executive Director for International Relations
Ricardo Carvalho Gonçalves, PhD candidate, University of Campinas; FLAUC Fellow, Fudan University
University of Sao Paulo:
Gilmar Masiero, Associate professor, School of Business and Economics
Chile:
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile:
Johannes Rehner, Director of Center for Asian Studies
Nicole Jenne, Assistant Professor, Institute of Political Sciences
University of Chile:
Dorotea López Giral, Director, Institute of International Studies
China:
Fudan University:
Xu Ningshen, President
Chen Zhimin, Vice President
Zhang Yi, Executive Vice Dean, Fudan Development Institute
Cheng Yiyang, Director, Department of Spanish Language and Literature
Wang Longxing, Lecturer, Department of Spanish Language and Literature
Qian Siyun, Director, Global Strategy Division, Fudan Development Institute
Liu Siyuan, Global Strategy Division, Fudan Development Institute
Colombia:
Del Rosario University:
Stephanie Lavaux, Academic Provost
Arlene B. Tickner, Professor, Director of Research, School of Political Sciences, Government and International Relations
Julián David Cortés-Sánchez, Distinguished Professor, School of Management; Member, Institutional Ethics Committee for Social Sciences; FLAUC Fellow, Fudan University
University of Los Andes:
Jorge Andrés Zambrano Riveros, Associate Professor and Macroeconomics Director, Department of Economics
Juana Catalina García, Professor, School of Management
Mexico:
Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education:
Carlos Cerda, Professor and Researcher, Department of Economics, Political Sciences and International Relations, Tec de Monterrey, Campus Guadalajara
National Autonomous University of Mexico:
Guillermo Pulido González, Director, UNAM-China Headquarter
Edmundo Borja Navarro, Coordinator of Relations and Management of the UNAM-China Headquarter
Peru:
National University of San Marcos:
Orestes Cachay Boza, Rector
Teonila Doria García Zapata, Advisor to Rector
Juan Diego Zamudio Padilla, Director of International Technical Cooperation Office; Professor, School of Economics
Gonzalo Pacheco Lay, President of the Organizing Committee of the School of General Studies; FLAUC Fellow, Fudan University
ØConsulates:
Consulate General of Brazil in Shanghai
Mário Antonio de Araújo, Deputy Consul-General
Consulate General of Colombia in Shanghai
Daniel Cruz, Consul
Consulate General of Peru in Shanghai
Zósimo Roberto Morillo Herrada, Consul General
ØInstitutes:
QS Intelligence Unit
Christina Zhang, China Director
Opening Remarks
Prof. Dr. Zhang Yi (Executive Vice Dean, Fudan Development Institute)
On behalf of Fudan and FDDI, Prof. Zhang extended her warmest welcome to friends from member state university. She mentioned that geographical distance does not matter when everyone shares the same vision in strengthening collaborations. It is FDDI’s pleasure to have everyone gathered here for the third time. She mentioned that the leaders of different institutions might have changed but the ties between them remains strong, and this requires the continuous support of everyone.
Welcome speech by Prof. Dr. Xu Ningsheng (President, Fudan University)
Rector Xu is very honored to meet everyone again. As he quoted President Xi Jinping’s speech in the Asian civilization held in Beijing, he emphasized the importance of treasuring all civilizations and cultures. He highlighted the fact that a pragmatic approach adopted by this consortium has yield wonderful results, and this is evident in the high academic value of the content produced. Several Fudan professors have even chosen to use these as teaching materials. Rector Xu pointed out that the 2nd FLAUC in Peru passed the Resolution of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and turned to be a national level meeting, and this is also a testimony of the consortium’s global reputation.
He hopes the meeting will produce potential common interest that involves students and the wider audience, while integrating culture and providing new perspectives for an open-minded consortium. He highlighted the importance of open-mindedness and diversity in FLAUC.
Member University Report
This section is moderated by Prof. Dr. Cheng Yiyang
Director, Department of Spanish Language and Literature, Fudan University
1) National University of San Marcos, Peru (2018 Rotating Chair)
By Orestes Cachay Boza, Rector
Asia research network
Rector Orestes Cachay Boza extended his warmest welcome to the guests presented today. He emphasized the importance of strengthening cooperation between different institutions, especially with Fudan University. These interactions are not only for academic purposes but also relevant for many other aspects. The China Research Centre in National University of San Marcos, Peru is crucial in the establishment of an Asian research network. There have been ongoing discussions with the consul-general on ways to improve the development of the Asia Research Centre.
On the importance of collaboration
Dr. Orestes Cachay Boza mentioned that the university will work towards making 2019 a more fruitful year for the consortium. He opined that such international cooperation in the academic field will strengthen the bonds between different nations, beyond official governmental relations.
China’s involvement in Peru education
Dr. Cachay Boza highlighted that Chinese companies are involved in the Peru education system: Huawei scholarships are offered and the students from National University of San Marcos have clinched many titles. These awards gave recognition to the university in different work fields.
Expectations for the meeting
Dr. Cachay Boza expressed his heartfelt wishes for this FLAUC Council Meeting and Shanghai Forum, and hopes that through discussions we would find more ways to foster connections.
2) Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, Chile (2019 Rotating Chair)
By Johannes Rehner, Director of Center for Asian Studies
Key activities for collaboration
Dr. Rehner expressed his wishes to collaborate with other institutions in this network and reported the key activities that have taken place since the last Shanghai Forum, such as paper submissions and presentations at the 2nd FLAUC Annual Meeting in Lima, and the co-organization with Del Rosario University for a Shanghai Forum parallel panel on “Providing Public Goods in Times of Power Transition”, etc. There will be an upcoming FLAUC Annual Meeting in Santiago on 11-12 November, 2019, co-hosted by Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and University of Chile. Dr. Rehner hopes that all institutions will participate in this actively. A total of 15 panel entries are received do far, and the second call for papers will be sent out at the end of May.
3rd FLAUC Annual Meeting
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile will host the 3rd FLAUC Annual Meeting on the first day of the Meeting, November 11th. The upcoming Meeting will discuss 4 sub-topics: Transpacific Relations, Development Models and Challenges; The International Trade and Financial Architecture at a Crossroads; Multilateralism, Peace and Global Governance; Cooperation for Sustainable Development. For the second sub-topic, Dr. Rehner is looking forward to having other institutions on board, including Fudan University, to make it a joint session.
3) University of Chile, Chile (2019 Rotating Chair)
By Dorotea López Giral, Director, Institute of International Studies
Close ties with Fudan University
University of Chile shares many close ties with Fudan University, especially the Institute of International Studies. Prof. Andrés Bórquez has obtained his Ph.D. from Fudan University and is now in charge of the China Studies Program in University of Chile. These ties are presented across different disciplinary fields.
Research collaborations
The APEC University Leaders Forum organized by the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) and the University of Chile will be held on November 14th 2019. The Forum convenes presidents of the leading Asia-Pacific research activities together with leaders from major global corporations.
3rd FLAUC Annual Meeting
University of Chile has been jointly working with Pontifical Catholic University of Chile on the 2019 FLAUC Annual Meeting and will host the Meeting on the second day, November 12th, 2019.
4) University of Campinas, Brazil
By Mariano Francisco Laplane, Executive Director for International Relations
A direction to work towards
Dr. Laplane oversees the overall budgeting of programs. He urged all members to think about how universities can play a more active role, given that all international relations in university are undergoing profound changes. It is positive that most of the institutions agree on partnerships in the same fields, and the interest put forward by the consortium is the same as that of University of Campinas, Brazil.
After the Meeting, Dr. Laplane confirmed that Unicamp would host the 2021 FLAUC Annual Meeting in Brazil.
Positive results achieved
Dr. Laplane commented on the positive results so far: Student and faculty exchanges are increasing; the collaboration is reaching new heights with the establishment of summer and winter schools. University of Campinas looks forward to cooperating on the Seed Fund Idea Lab Initiative by Fudan University. There are also many other fields that members can collaborate.
Innovation in Education
He urged members to set aside more time to think about innovation in education, specifically the way institutions educate young generation through extra-curricular activities that will foster holistic development of youths, preparing for the future.
5) University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
By Gilmar Masiero, Associate professor, School of Business and Economics
Relooking at existing collaborations
Professor Gilmar Masiero introduced the university as the second biggest education institution in Latin America. The university is so big that a collaboration by a single faculty cannot benefit other faculties, therefore Prof. Masiero highlighted the need to relook at existing partnerships and seek ways to increase the possible positive impact. He proceeded to suggest that online platforms will be a great way to push forward this idea.
Currently, University of Sao Paulo has many collaborations with Chinese universities. For Fudan University, it is heavily focused in the medical field. In the field of People and International Cooperation, there are only 2 agreements with Chinese universities, and Fudan University has not been included yet.
Directions to work towards
Prof. Masiero highlighted the fact that there are insufficient publications in Chinese in Latin America academic field, and this should be made a priority of the consortium. He also proceeded to introduce the Framework for Smart City Planning.
6) Fudan University, China
By Qian Siyun, Director, Global Strategy Division, Fudan Development Institute
Research: Seed Fund
Ms. Qian highlighted that the FLAUC Fellow Program under the Seed Fund has since received 20 applications. She expressed happiness on the varied disciplinary fields that these applications covered and indicated that the applications came from all six countries of FLAUC. The other part of the Seed Fund, the Idea Lab will be an initiative that seeks to strengthen collaborations and build up cross disciplinary research platform between 1-2 FLAUC member universities and Fudan University. The first one was already built up between Fudan University, Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education and National University of San Marcos, and the three parts would jointly organize different series of academic activities including forums, workshops, conferences, etc. to conduct research on the one-year topic “The internationalization of the Chinese multinational enterprises in Latin America”.
Activities: Events and Publications
Ms. Qian proceeded to comment on the activities FDDI organized so far, including the parallel round-table on “Providing Public Goods in Times of Power Transition” during Shanghai Forum and the Global Young Scholar Conference which gathered representatives from different member countries. A total of 100 articles from 27 countries were collected, and 16 were chosen to be presented during the conference. Among all the collected articles, 24 were from 7 Latin American countries, and 3 of them were chosen to be final presenters.
Ms. Qian also indicated that Fudan University also would actively host a session in the 3rd FLAUC Annual Meeting with renowned experts.
In regard to publications, the proceeding coedited by Monterrey Tech and Fudan Development Institute on “China and Latin America: Paths to Overcoming the Middle-income Trap” (English version) has already been released and the Chinese version is ongoing. For year 2019, with support from Fudan University, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and Del Rosario University, the new call for chapter on “Providing Public Goods in Times of Power Transition: Views from Latin America and China” will be open for applications till the end of June.
Network: Hub and Brand
Fudan University strives to strengthen connections with different institution, including the government, consulate, and university. This multi-pronged approach seeks to allow Fudan University to be hub in different research networks, offering support when corporations are built up between institutions via Fudan University. “FLAUC” is also turning out to be a more recognized brand which represents the linkage not only among FLAUC member universities, but also between China and Latin American countries.
7)Del Rosario University, Colombia
By Stephanie Lavaux, Academic Provost
Online FLAUC Scientific Production Repository
Dr. Lavaux suggested the instillation of an online repository, due to the increasing records by institutions. This will be an important Project management component, which can serve the needs of all members. She added that the usage statistics by each country can also be tabulated. However, she foresees that there will be some difficulties, including the different ways each member university names their academic fields. These are problems that need to be solved before a successful common database can be formed. She urged members to look into this possibility.
8) University of Los Andes, Colombia
By Jorge Andrés Zambrano Riveros, Associate Professor and Macroeconomics Director, Department of Economics & Juana Catalina García, Professor, School of Management
Online coursework
Dr. Riveros suggested the addition of MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) courses on “Doing Business in LATAM” for different universities to share resources and foster collaborations. Although there might be administrative difficulties at the beginning, this initiative will be successful if all members agree on the potential benefits it could bring about.
It is a specialized program on Coursera, created jointly by University of Los Andes, Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education and Pontifical Catholic University of Chile under an alliance called “La Tríada”. The program is designed to offer many opportunities to embark on active, independent, flexible and interactive learning together with students from all over the world. It also enables students to examine and experience how different organizations and people are building their competitive advantage using Latin America as a base. There are 32 MOOC courses with a total number of 478,000 enrolled students and over 1,200,000 visitors. The four modules are respectively: How do multilatinas create competitive advantage; The drivers of business development in Latin America; Multilatinas: Internationalization Strategies; The challenges of the new millennium in Latin America.
Research and academic activities
Dr. Riveros also introduced the participation and presentations of professors from University of Los Andes in the 2019 Shanghai Forum parallel Roundtable “Providing Public Goods in Times of Power Transition”, and the International Summer School during June 4th-July 26th.
Uniandes is also looking forward to have FLAUC members in their Emerging Multinationals Research Network (EMRN) and seeks to strengthen collaborations with member universities.
9) Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, Mexico
By Carlos Cerda, Professor and Researcher, Department of Economics, Political Sciences and International Relations, Tec de Monterrey, Campus Guadalajara
Existing collaborations
Dr. Cerda shared the publication of the proceedings “China and Latin America: Paths to Overcoming the Middle Income Trap” edited by professors from Monterrey Tech and Fudan Development Institute. He added that Dr. Daniel Lemus from Asia Pacific Center and School of Social Science and Government stayed for a sabbatical semester at Fudan University as visiting scholar and is impressed by the amount of support rendered to researchers. He proceeded to introduce a series of official visits conducted by the board of trustees and authorities, which highlighted the close ties between Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education and Fudan University.
During the Meeting, Dr. Cerda confirmed that Monterrey Tech would host the 2020 FLAUC Annual Meeting in Mexico.
10) National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico
By Guillermo Pulido González, Director, UNAM-China Headquarter
Dr. Pulido extended his heartfelt congratulations to the successful opening of this meeting, and introduced the prestigious background of the university, focusing on the existing international collaborations in different faculties. There are also many Chinese-related lessons that students can take to deepen their understanding of China. Currently, UNAM is working on setting an UNAM Corner in the library of Fudan University.
Closing Remarks
Prof. Dr. Chen Zhimin
Vice President, Fudan University
Prof. Dr. Chen Zhimin highlighted how FLAUC is a young consortium that is steadily growing with efforts from every member university. He expressed his gratitude to everyone presented for their contributions in different ways. He highlighted the need to focus on cross-disciplinary research, and it is possible to look to the west for inspiration, specifically on how institutions and mechanisms are designed to allow maximum international collaborations. He also added that natural science, medical science and linguistics studies are academic fields that can be further explored. A MOOC Program between FLAUC member universities was also proposed by Dr. Chen as a new possible collaborating initiative.
Dr. Chen welcomes suggestions in improving the structure of FLAUC and will put in effort to ensure that the suggestions given today are well-considered and explored, and proceeded to propose a new exit mechanism of the current member universities: members who do not attend FLAUC official events for three consecutive times will be automatically delisted.