The event, hosted this year by Chile, culminated with a conference on the future and the challenges that are projected in the new post-pandemic context.

“Charting the Future: International Education for the Americas” was the name of the last exhibition in which academics and university leaders from all over the continent participated in the framework of the Congress of the Americas hosted by Chile in 2021, which lasted throughout the week with various lectures and conferences and with the attendance of more than a thousand people through its virtual platform.

The rector of the Universidad de Los Lagos and President of the Inter-American Organization for Higher Education (IOHE), Óscar Garrido, moderated this presentation, expressing in his opening remarks the impact that the pandemic has had on the world in all areas and especially in education, generating at the same time, the opportunity of virtualization and reinforcing the relevance of internationalization.

“The virus has had a negative impact on international exchange programs, affecting mobility and research activities. From higher education to university institutions, particularly public ones, we promptly put ourselves at the service of the authorities of the Ministry of Education and the government to help with our laboratories, with our innovations, to carry out greater traceability, to generate socialization campaigns, and much self-care. The universities closed their face-to-face activities and quickly adapted to distance education, also providing facilities for students with connectivity difficulties, ensuring the continuity of studies and academic activities. Today, as president of the IOHE, I would emphasize that we have assumed the pandemic as an opportunity to establish new challenges, such as this congress, which is a clear example of this”, said Rector Óscar Garrido.

The speakers of this last panel of the congress were: Fanta Aw, Vice President of Campus Life & Inclusive Excellence, American University, who referred to the current approach of the situation of the U.S. State regarding integration. Andrés Bernasconi, Director of the Center for Advanced Studies on Educational Justice, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC); addressed the ongoing conversations regarding the contribution of education to social development. Also present was Hans de Wit, Distinguished Fellow and Former Director, Center for International Higher Education, Boston College, who discussed with a comparative approach his experience regarding internationalization, an opportunity in which he emphasized that the impact of 2020 with the pandemic has not yet shown all the consequences it will have for higher education in the world, where student and academic mobility is paralyzed and where it will also have to face all the political and climate crises to come.

Rector Garrido, as moderator of the panel, established at the end of each speaker’s presentation, through some guided questions, a dialogue between the speakers. One of them was the eventual openness of U.S. institutions to collaborate with the Americas, another question was oriented to the Chilean reality regarding the difficulties that are observed to have equitable access to quality education. Questions were also asked about international higher education and the most important challenge in getting internationalization activities back on track.

The speakers addressed each of the questions and concluded by responding to the encouraging and positive aspects brought about by the pandemic, in the context of charting the future of international education. At this point, they agreed with the virtualization that allows congregating a greater number of people in relevant events such as this congress, and greater democratization of spaces as a possibility for all students. Especially, they made it clear that we should not go back to what we had in 2019 but take the opportunity to reach a much more equitable system, which must do neither with the spaces nor the resources we have.

“We reaffirm that the frontiers of knowledge are open, we thank all the participants to this congress and the 3 panelists for the space to discuss and talk,” said Rector Garrido.